Trusted social network

ABSTRACT

A technique for trusted social networking involves enabling parties to join a social network and provide a list of trusted content sources. The system can maintain folders associated with each of the trusted content sources for a first member. If one of the trusted content sources is a second member that indicates the first member is trusted, then the system can maintain a master folder for the first and second member.

BACKGROUND

Since their introduction, blogs (like Mashable, Lifehacker, TheHuffington Post) and social network sites (like MySpace, Facebook, andTwitter) have attracted millions of users, many of whom have integratedthese sites into their daily practices. There are now hundreds of socialnetworks and thousands of blogs supporting a wide range of interests andtopics. However, if you are interested in follow or participate anynumber of these blogs or social network sites, you would have to go totheir individual URL one by one and access to the content. This presentsanother problem, and that is users now have to be familiar with multipleuser interfaces. In addition data is accessed in different ways whichalso makes it difficult for users learn all these different sites.

There are some alternatives like social network aggregators, but they donot provide social network capability of their own. Still others providesocial network capability, but only for separate groups or organizationsmade up of small unconnected social network groups, but does not havethe power of combined networks. In addition, there are no solutions tomanage information on these blogs and social network sites all together,like searching, sorting, organizing, accessing, etc. in a combinedmanner. Users have to do that one by one in every site. Furthermore,most social network sites do not provide sufficient capability to usersfor categorizing content based on some general topics which makesrelevant data spread around and make it difficult for searching andfinding.

In these blogs and social network sites, user typically do not have theability to send a message to only one person, or only to those selectgroup of people. Typically information open to anyone and user has verylittle control on who to communicate with. To address this problem,instead, individuals and businesses also have been using emails forcommunication, which provides control over who to communicate with.However, emails do have number of drawbacks as well. For example, whenan email is sent to five people, five copies of the original email issent increasing the overall storage requirements substantially. Anotherproblem with emails is the lost emails. Many users complain that theydid not receive the email. For number of reasons emails do not arrive attheir intended destinations. Some of them end up in so called “junkmail” folders, which some people do not look at or check only rarely.Another problem with emails is that anyone who knows your email addresscan send and email and you cannot effectively control that. So, usersend up with hundreds of emails in their inbox that they have to reviewand delete, which wastes time and causes distraction. Another problemwith email is that all emails come to your only email inbox. It takestime and effort to review and sort them based on content or who it iscoming from.

Another problem with these sites is that they provide only one way ofcommunication like, either posting, or text messaging, etc. User cannotuse posting, text messaging, emailing, and private messaging forcommunication in one site. Another problem with these blogs and socialnetwork sites is generally users do not know if there is a message orcommunication or content until user logs in to the sites individuallyone by one.

Another problem is the privacy issue. In many of these blogs and socialnetwork sites, information is open to the public and shared. This aspectof the social networks limits use of social networks for businesses,government agencies, educational institutions, etc. Blogs and socialnetworks, as the name suggest, are primarily connecting people in asocial environment, but not meant to be used in a business environmentwhere privacy and security are important.

Another problem with these sites that they do not have rating or rankingof content or users. Not having such capabilities typically promotescontent that is not desirable by many users. In addition, these sites donot provide incentives to users for participation and contribution. As aresult, quality of the content created in these sites may suffer.

Therefore, there is a strong need for a system and methods for creating,managing, searching, categorizing, sharing, collecting, aggregating andcommunicating public and private content and personal messages throughmultiplicity of communication channels like posting, personal email, andtext, audio, and video messaging. Furthermore, system and methods forconnecting users to multiplicity of content like social networks, blogs,events, discussion boards, news and for enabling users to access contentthrough wireless as well as wired networks, utilizing portable andnon-portable electronic hardware device. Furthermore, system and methodsfor providing a unified hierarchical user interface for content display,management, access and communication. Furthermore, system and methodsfor incentivizing users for participation and quality content by use ofcredits, and ranks and ratings of users and content. Furthermore, systemand methods for enabling sponsors to engage with users by sponsoringcategories or target users at specific categories based on user interestand by providing incentives to those users for their participations.Furthermore, system and methods for enabling business managing theircontent and internal communications in a private and secure environment.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could bepursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previouslyconceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, theapproaches described in this section may not be prior art to the claimsin this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion inthis section.

SUMMARY

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a trusted social network system.

FIG. 2 depicts an example of a system having a trusted social networkhierarchy.

FIG. 3 depicts an example of a trust reciprocation system.

FIG. 4 depicts an example of a system including trust folders.

FIG. 5 depicts an example of a system for controlling access to a trustfolder.

FIG. 6 depicts an example of a system capable of forwarding content toand receiving replies from a destination that does not have access to atrust folder.

FIG. 7 depicts an example of a system for determining and indicating aglobal trust level for a member of a trusted social network.

FIG. 8 depicts a flowchart of an example of a method for maintaining atrust folder.

FIG. 9 depicts a conceptual example of a is a screenshot followingsubscription to a theme.

FIGS. 10-25 depict conceptual examples of screenshots of a device amember is using to indicate settings in a trusted social network system.

FIG. 26 depicts examples of high level user interface folders.

FIG. 27 depicts a flowchart of an example of a method for generalnavigation in a trusted social network structure.

FIG. 28 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screen shot at a top level ofa social network structure.

FIG. 29 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screen shot of an example of acategories main page.

FIG. 30 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screen shot of an example of acategory page.

FIG. 31 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screen shot of an example ofan article page.

FIG. 32 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screen shot of an example ofan article page in full page display mode.

FIG. 33 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screen shot of an example of atop articles main page.

FIG. 34 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screen shot of an example of atop articles article page.

FIG. 35 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screen shot of an example of afavorites main page.

FIG. 36 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screen shot of an example of afavorites article list page.

FIG. 37 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screen shot of an example of afavorite article page.

FIG. 38 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screen shot of an example of apersonal main page.

Examples of pages that can be displayed in association with a personalfolder are illustrated in FIGS. 39-50.

FIG. 51 depicts a conceptual diagram of a screenshot of an example of asearch main page screen shot.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a trusted social network system 100. In theexample of FIG. 1, the system 100 includes a network 102, a trustedsocial network server 104, client devices 106-1 to 106-N (collectively,the client devices 106), and data devices 108-1 to 108-N (collectively,the data devices 108). The trusted social network server 104, clientdevices 106, and data devices 108 are coupled to the network 102.

In the example of FIG. 1, the network 102 can include a networked systemthat includes several computer systems coupled together, such as theInternet. The term “Internet” as used herein refers to a network ofnetworks that uses certain protocols, such as the TCP/IP protocol, andpossibly other protocols such as the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)for hypertext markup language (HTML) documents that make up the WorldWide Web (the web). Content is often provided by content servers, whichare referred to as being “on” the Internet. A web server, which is onetype of content server, is typically at least one computer system whichoperates as a server computer system and is configured to operate withthe protocols of the web and is coupled to the Internet. The physicalconnections of the Internet and the protocols and communicationprocedures of the Internet and the web are well known to those of skillin the relevant art. For illustrative purposes, it is assumed thenetwork 102 broadly includes, as understood from relevant context,anything from a minimalist coupling of the components illustrated in theexample of FIG. 1, to every component of the Internet and networkscoupled to the Internet.

A computer system, as used in this paper, is intended to be construedbroadly. In general, a computer system will include a processor, memory,non-volatile storage, and an interface. A typical computer system willusually include at least a processor, memory, and a device (e.g., a bus)coupling the memory to the processor. The processor can be, for example,a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), such as amicroprocessor, or a special-purpose processor, such as amicrocontroller. The memory can include, by way of example but notlimitation, random access memory (RAM), such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) andstatic RAM (SRAM). The memory can be local, remote, or distributed. Theterm “computer-readable storage medium” is intended to include physicalmedia, such as memory. The bus can also couple the processor to thenon-volatile storage. The non-volatile storage is often a magneticfloppy or hard disk, a magnetic-optical disk, an optical disk, aread-only memory (ROM), such as a CD-ROM, EPROM, or EEPROM, a magneticor optical card, or another form of storage for large amounts of data.Some of this data is often written, by a direct memory access process,into memory during execution of software on the computer system. Thenon-volatile storage can be local, remote, or distributed. Thenon-volatile storage is optional because systems can be created with allapplicable data available in memory.

Software is typically stored in the non-volatile storage. Indeed, forlarge programs, it may not even be possible to store the entire programin the memory. Nevertheless, it should be understood that for softwareto run, if necessary, it is moved to a computer-readable locationappropriate for processing, and for illustrative purposes, that locationis referred to as the memory in this paper. Even when software is movedto the memory for execution, the processor will typically make use ofhardware registers to store values associated with the software, andlocal cache that, ideally, serves to speed up execution. As used herein,a software program is assumed to be stored at any known or convenientlocation (from non-volatile storage to hardware registers) when thesoftware program is referred to as “implemented in a computer-readablestorage medium.” A processor is considered to be “configured to executea program” when at least one value associated with the program is storedin a register readable by the processor.

The bus can also couple the processor to the interface. The interfacecan include one or more of a modem or network interface. It will beappreciated that a modem or network interface can be considered to bepart of the computer system. The interface can include an analog modem,isdn modem, cable modem, token ring interface, satellite transmissioninterface (e.g. “direct PC”), or other interfaces for coupling acomputer system to other computer systems. The interface can include oneor more input and/or output (I/O) devices. The I/O devices can include,by way of example but not limitation, a keyboard, a mouse or otherpointing device, disk drives, printers, a scanner, and other I/Odevices, including a display device. The display device can include, byway of example but not limitation, a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquidcrystal display (LCD), or some other applicable known or convenientdisplay device.

In one example of operation, the computer system can be controlled byoperating system software that includes a file management system, suchas a disk operating system. File management systems are typically storedin non-volatile storage and cause the processor to execute the variousacts required by the operating system to input and output data and tostore data in the memory, including storing files on the non-volatilestorage. One example of operating system software with associated filemanagement system software is the family of operating systems known asWindows® from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., and theirassociated file management systems. Another example of operating systemsoftware with its associated file management system software is theLinux operating system and its associated file management system.Another example of operating system software with associated filemanagement system software is VM (or VM/CMS), which refers to a familyof IBM virtual machine operating systems used on IBM mainframesSystem/370, System/390, zSeries, System z, and compatible systems,including the Hercules emulator for personal computers.

Some portions of the detailed description may be presented in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bitswithin a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to adesired result. The operations are those requiring physicalmanipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily,these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capableof being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwisemanipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasonsof common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements,symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion,it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizingterms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or“determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action andprocesses of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device,that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers andmemories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the computer system memories or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission or display devices.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently relatedto any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purposesystems may be used with programs to configure the general purposesystems in a specific manner in accordance with the teachings herein, orit may prove convenient to construct specialized apparatus to performthe methods of some embodiments. The required structure for a variety ofthese systems will appear from the description below. In addition, thetechniques are not described with reference to any particularprogramming language, and various embodiments may thus be implementedusing a variety of programming languages.

Referring once again to FIG. 1, in the example of FIG. 1, the trustedsocial network server 104 includes a member registration andcertification engine 110, a members datastore 112, a contact informationinput engine 114, a content sources datastore 116, a one-way trust listcreation engine 118, a one-way trust lists datastore 120, a reciprocatedtrust management engine 122, a master reciprocated trust foldersdatastore 124, and a network interface 126.

The trusted social network server 104 can be implemented on a known orconvenient computer system. Only one trusted social network server 104is illustrated in FIG. 1, but it should be understood that a singleentity could have multiple distinct devices with server softwareimplemented thereon, and multiple entities could be coupled to thenetwork 102 and part of a collaborative social network service.Moreover, partial functionality might be provided by a first device andpartial functionality might be provided by a second device, wheretogether the first and second devices provide the full functionalityattributed to the trusted social network server 104. It should befurther noted that some of the functionality attributed to the trustedsocial network server 104 could be carried out on a client device (e.g.,a one-way trust list could be created at a client device and sent to thetrusted social network server 104 after it is created).

The exact configuration of the trusted social network server 104 canvary depending upon the entity that is offering the service. Businessesare likely to be more controlling of member activities, and may includeautomatic reciprocated trust for employees, or automatic one-way trustfor certain employees (e.g., all employees automatically include CXOcontact information in their one-way trust lists, but the CXOs do notnecessarily include all employees in their one-way trust lists).Employees may also have more restrictions on establishing trust withparties outside of the business due to the business' concerns aboutaccepting malware from outside sources or enabling employees to spendtime with non-business contacts.

The member registration and certification engine 110 and other enginesdescribed in this paper include computer-readable media coupled to aprocessor. The computer-readable media have data, including executablefiles, that the processor can use to transform the data and create newdata. An engine can include a dedicated or shared processor and firmwareor software modules (implemented in memory) that are executed by theprocessor. Depending upon implementation-specific or otherconsiderations, an engine can be centralized or its functionalitydistributed. An engine can include special purpose hardware, firmware,or software embodied in a computer-readable medium for execution by theprocessor. As used in this paper, a computer-readable medium is intendedto include all mediums that are statutory (e.g., in the United States,under 35 U.S.C. 101), and to specifically exclude all mediums that arenon-statutory in nature to the extent that the exclusion is necessaryfor a claim that includes the computer-readable medium to be valid.Known statutory computer-readable mediums include hardware (e.g.,registers, random access memory (RAM), non-volatile (NV) storage, toname a few), but may or may not be limited to hardware.

The member registration and certification engine 110 is configured toregister members in the trusted social network associated with thetrusted social network server 104. The members can be input through anadministrative procedure using data that is available within a businessconcern (e.g., by a systems administrator), through a member-facingregistration procedure (e.g., through a web page interface), or in someother applicable fashion. At a minimum, a member will need to provide orbe assigned contact information. The contact information used can beconsidered implementation-specific, but a likely implementation willinclude an electronic address (e.g., email address) or a phone number,which can be used for calls, SMS, or as a unique identifier for amember. Certification is often desirable to ensure that members arelegitimate, and can include procedures such as authentication (e.g.,password, security question, or the like), validation of the device(e.g., one of the client devices 106), use of a certification authority,or another applicable certification process. This can reduce the riskthat members are not who they say they are.

Data associated with members can be stored in the members datastore 112,which is coupled to the member registration and certification engine110. The members datastore 112, and other datastores described in thispaper, can be implemented, for example, as software embodied in aphysical computer-readable medium on a general- or specific-purposemachine, in firmware, in hardware, in a combination thereof, or in anapplicable known or convenient device or system. This and otherdatastores described in this paper are intended, if applicable, toinclude any organization of data, including tables, comma-separatedvalues (CSV) files, traditional databases (e.g., SQL), or other known orconvenient organizational formats.

In an example of a system where a datastore is implemented as adatabase, a database management system (DBMS) can be used to manage thedatastore. In such a case, the DBMS may be thought of as part of thedatastore or as part of a broader system (e.g., the trusted socialnetwork server 104), or as a separate functional unit (not shown). ADBMS is typically implemented as an engine that controls organization,storage, management, and retrieval of data in a database. DBMSsfrequently provide the ability to query, backup and replicate, enforcerules, provide security, do computation, perform change and accesslogging, and automate optimization. Examples of DBMSs include AlphaFive, DataEase, Oracle database, IBM DB2, Adaptive Server Enterprise,FileMaker, Firebird, Ingres, Informix, Mark Logic, Microsoft Access,InterSystems Cache, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Visual FoxPro,MonetDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Progress, SQLite, Teradata, CSQL, OpenLinkVirtuoso, Daffodil DB, and OpenOffice.org Base, to name several.

Database servers can store databases, as well as the DBMS and relatedengines. Any of the datastores described in this paper could presumablybe implemented as database servers. It should be noted that there aretwo logical views of data in a database, the logical (external) view andthe physical (internal) view. In this paper, the logical view isgenerally assumed to be data found in a report, while the physical viewis the data stored in a physical storage medium and available to aspecifically programmed processor. With most DBMS implementations, thereis one physical view and an almost unlimited number of logical views forthe same data.

A DBMS typically includes a modeling language, data structure, databasequery language, and transaction mechanism. The modeling language is usedto define the schema of each database in the DBMS, according to thedatabase model, which may include a hierarchical model, network model,relational model, object model, or some other applicable known orconvenient organization. An optimal structure may vary depending uponapplication requirements (e.g., speed, reliability, maintainability,scalability, and cost). One of the more common models in use today isthe ad hoc model embedded in SQL. Data structures can include fields,records, files, objects, and any other applicable known or convenientstructures for storing data. A database query language can enable usersto query databases, and can include report writers and securitymechanisms to prevent unauthorized access. A database transactionmechanism ideally ensures data integrity, even during concurrent useraccesses, with fault tolerance. DBMSs can also include a metadatarepository; metadata is data that describes other data.

Member data that is stored in the members datastore 112 can beconsidered implementation-specific, but will generally at least includecontact information for the member. Generally, larger amounts of dataimprove the ability of the system to certify the member, customize themember experience, or the like. Businesses will often have a great dealof information about employees, while non-business concerns willtypically have less. Where the social network includes a market-place,member data can also include financial information, such as credit cardnumbers or other commerce-related data.

The contact information input engine 114 is configured to facilitateinput of contact information of a member, receive input of the contactinformation, or in some other manner obtain and store the contactinformation in the content sources datastore 116. The contactinformation input engine 114 can facilitate input of contact informationfrom a member (e.g., a member using one of the client devices 106), froma systems administrator (e.g., through an input device or from one ofthe client devices 106), or from some other human or artificial agent.The format of the contact information can be consideredimplementation-specific. Examples include an Outlook address book, acomma-delimited list, a Facebook friends list, or some other applicableformat. The contact information input engine 114 can, depending upon theimplementation, obtain contact information in an identified location,accept manual input, or accept the contact information in some otherapplicable manner.

Some contact information input by a first member might be contactinformation of a second member. A physical delineation between themembers datastore 112 and the content sources datastore 116 is notcritical, and the contact information for members could be stored in thesame physical datastore as the contact information for non-members. Forillustrative purposes, the content sources datastore 116 is generallytreated as a repository for all contact information of contacts for eachuser and other sources of messages (or, more generally, content), whilethe members datastore 112 is generally treated as a repository ofmember-specific information (provided by the member or input by asystems administrator) excluding the content sources. To the extentthere is overlap, the discussions in this paper can appear to suggestlogical redundancy of, for example, an email address of a second memberthat is part of the members datastore 112 and the same email addressthat a first member provides as contact information stored in thecontent sources datastore 116, but storage of the data may or may not bephysically redundant. It may be noted that “member information” caninclude both data from the members datastore 112 for the member, anddata in the content sources datastore 116 for, e.g., contacts of themember. Where a distinction is desired, the member information can bereferred to explicitly as, for example, “member registration data” and“member contacts data.”

Although the example described with reference to FIG. 1 primarilyfocuses on contact information as content sources, other content sourcescan be used. For example, a member could indicate a blog is a trustedcontent source. The treatment of such a content source may varydepending upon the system. For example, in a corporate environment,certain sources of information may be particularly relevant to a groupof members; so such information might be stored in the reciprocatedtrust folders of a group. As another example, a member may have apersonal blog, and the blog could be treated as one type of allowableinput to a reciprocated trust folder in which the member is aparticipant. In general, content sources will generally need to beincorporated into a member identity because the social networkassociated with the trusted network server 104 is a network of members,but the definition of a member can vary depending upon theimplementation- or configuration-specific constraints put on a system.It is expected that in many cases, an email address will be anacceptable content source for a particular member, but a decisionregarding whether, e.g., an RSS feed, is an acceptable content sourcefor a particular member might vary depending upon the deciding party.

It should be noted that there can be a hierarchy of membership, as well.For example, a three-level hierarchy could include members, trustedsources, and non-trusted sources. If a member vouches for a contentsource, it can be treated as a trusted source without the content sourcebecoming a part of the member's identity. Other members, a systemsadministrator, or some other relevant party can decide whether thecontent source is trusted, as well. A reciprocated trust folder formembers that all trust a content source could, if properly implementedand/or configured, store content for the content source.

The one-way trust list creation engine 118 is configured to identifycontacts for which trust exists, create a list of the trusted contacts,and store the list of trusted contacts in the one-way trust listsdatastore 120. The trust is “one-way” because members are not normallycapable of forcing other members to trust them. (As is discussedelsewhere in this paper, in certain cases, trust may be assumed, such astrust for a boss member by employee members.) The format of the one-waytrust list can be considered implementation-specific. In oneimplementation, the one-way trust list is a list of addresses from whichmessages are receivable. If an address is not on the list, any messagesare not delivered (or are directed to some location other than theapplicable inbox). In a specific implementation, each contact of amember is stored as a record, and the contacts are approved byindicating as much in a trust field of the record associated with thecontact. Depending upon the implementation, all or a subset of theaddresses of the contact can be approved (e.g., either the contact has asingle trust field that covers all addresses of the contact or one ormore addresses of the contact have discrete trust fields).

The reciprocated trust management engine 122 is configured to match afirst member to a second member where the one-way trust list of thefirst member includes the second member and the one way trust list ofthe second member includes the first member, and create a privatecommunication environment for the first member and the second member.When a match occurs, the second member has indicated a reciprocatedtrust for the first member (and vice versa). The reciprocated trustmanagement engine 122 then manages a reciprocated trust folder for thefirst member and the second member. Any messages sent from the firstmember to the second member are stored in the reciprocated trustfolders, as well as any attachments, documents, or other data that issent to the private environment. The reciprocated trust folders aredescribed in detail later.

Messages and other data in a reciprocated trust folder can be treated aspart of a master reciprocated trust folders datastore 124. The foldersare “centralized” in the sense that the data can be stored in a singlelocation for all parties to the private environment. However, as isgenerally the case for datastores described in this paper, the data canactually be stored in a distributed fashion. In order to avoid confusionassociated with the term “centralized storage,” the private repositoryis referred to as “master storage.” The parties to the privateenvironment can delete or perhaps not even receive messages or data thatis in the master storage, or can potentially have messages or dataredundantly stored on client devices as well as in the master storage(assuming applicable hardware and an appropriate implementation and/orconfiguration). This organization has benefits, such as improved search,read notifications, etc., which are described later in this paper.

The network interface 126 is coupled to the network 102. The networkinterface 126 can facilitate appropriate connections to, e.g., theInternet, wireless networks, or the like. For illustrative simplicity,it is assumed that an application programming interface (API), ifapplicable, is part of the network interface 126, and that an API couldalso be provided to a client or data device for implementation thereon.

In the example of FIG. 1, the client devices 106 are coupled to thenetwork 102. The client devices can include applicable portable ornon-portable electronic hardware devices, such as smart phones, desktopcomputers, a device that can use 802.11, 3G, Wi-Max and/or another knownor convenient wireless protocol, or the like. The client devices 106, ora subset thereof, may or may not be capable of carrying out certainfunctionality that has been attributed to the server 104. For example,one or more of the client devices 106 may or may not be capable ofmaintaining a contact information datastore and generating a one-waytrust list therefrom. In an implementation in which one or more of theclient devices 106 include such functionality, the server may or may notbe redundantly capable of receiving contact information and creatingone-way trust lists therefrom, but in any case will in addition becapable of receiving one-way trust lists from the client devices 106 inorder to be able to identify reciprocated trust.

In the example of FIG. 1, the data devices 108 are coupled to thenetwork 102. The data devices 108 are intended to illustrate that theserver 104 can optionally store some or all of the contents of thevarious datastores at a remote location (e.g., in the cloud or in athird party repository). Where the datastores are maintained within anetwork maintained by an entity (e.g., a private network), the datadevices 108 are not necessary. Where a datastore is maintained in aremote location, unless indicated by the context, the “datastore” willinclude only the data that is currently stored within the networkmaintained by the entity in question, which will be a subset of the“distributed datastore.” If it is desirable to refer to a datastore thatis maintained at the data devices 108, reference to the data devices 108will be explicit (or the datastore will explicitly be referred to as a“distributed datastore”) unless the intention is sufficiently clear fromthe context.

The system 200 can be combined with other similar systems to createtrusted social network silos. Alternatively, the system 200 can becombined with other similar systems to create a trusted social networkhierarchy.

FIG. 2 depicts an example of a system 200 having a trusted socialnetwork hierarchy. The system 200 includes a trusted social supernetwork202, a trusted social network aggregation engine 204, trusted socialsubnetworks 206-1 to 206-N (referred to collectively as the trustedsocial subnetworks 206), and devices 208-1 to 208-N (referred tocollectively as the devices 208). The combination of the supernetwork202 and the subnetworks 206 can be referred to as “a hierarchicaltrusted social network.” The term “trusted social network” can includeboth hierarchical and non-hierarchical trusted social networks, andwhere context does not make the distinction relevant, one or the otherterm can be used to explicitly refer to one or the other type of trustedsocial network.

In the example of FIG. 2, the trusted social supernetwork 202 can beassociated with a trusted social network server, such as the trustedsocial network server 104 depicted in the example of FIG. 1. The trustedsocial supernetwork 202 can, in addition, have an associated trustedsocial network aggregation engine 204. The trusted social networkaggregation engine 204 aggregates social networks and at least in partincorporates the social networks into the trusted social supernetwork202. In this way, the trusted social subnetworks 206 can have distinctsubnetwork memberships, and the members of the trusted socialsubnetworks 206 will also be members of the trusted social networkcomprising the trusted social supernetwork 202. The trusted socialsubnetworks 206 can support devices 208 of subnetwork members and,depending upon the implementation and/or configuration, the devices 208can themselves be associated with sub-subnetworks (not shown in theexample of FIG. 2). Thus, the trusted social network hierarchy can havean arbitrarily large number of hierarchical levels. A trusted socialsubnetwork of the trusted social subnetworks 206 can have a trustedsocial network aggregation engine (not shown in the example of FIG. 2),or the trusted social network aggregation engine 204 can instead beresponsible for aggregating sub-subnetworks of the trusted socialsubnetworks 206.

In a specific implementation, the trusted social network 202 can bemanaged by a first private party, such as a social network provider. Thetrusted social subnetworks are initially individual networks managed bysecond private parties, such as corporate entities. The trusted socialnetwork aggregation engine 204 can add the individual networks to thesocial network by an automated procedure and/or in accordance with anagreement with the second private parties. When the trusted socialsubnetworks 206 become part of the hierarchical trusted social network,the members of the trusted social subnetworks 206 can become members ofthe trusted social supernetwork 202. Administrative controls or membersettings can control the degree to which members of the trusted socialsupernetwork 202 are trusted by members of the various trusted socialsubnetworks 206, and it is expected that certain second private partieswill desire to treat members of other trusted social subnetworks aspotential security risks (e.g., a first company will likely trust itsown employee members, but is not necessarily going to trust employeemembers of a second company to the same degree). However, it may stillbe useful to a first of the second private parties to know that a secondof the second private parties have members that are certified,authenticated, or otherwise vetted in accordance with the memberregistration procedures of the trusted social network.

FIG. 3 depicts an example of a trust reciprocation system 300. Thesystem 300 includes a trusted social network server 302, a trusted partydevice 310, and a second member device 316. In the example of FIG. 3,the trusted social network server 302 includes a trusted partyidentification engine 304, a members datastore 306, a social networkinvitation engine 308, a member registration engine 312, a reciprocaltrust confirmation engine 314, a reciprocated trust management engine318, and a master reciprocated trust folders datastore 320. The trustedparty device 310 and the second member device 316 may or may not be thesame device.

In the example of FIG. 3, the trusted party identification engine 304receives first member one-way trust list data. The first member one-waytrust list data can include data sufficient to identify a party(referred to alternatively in this example as a “trusted party” and a“second member”) as trusted by the first member. In a specificimplementation, the first member one-way trust list data is derived froma one-way trust list of the first member, a portion of the one-way trustlist of the first member, a master list of trusted parties, or someother applicable listing of parties that the first member, or members ofa group of which the first member is a part, have indicated or arepresumed to trust.

In the example of FIG. 3, the trusted party identification engine 304may be unable to determine that the party that the first member hasindicated is trusted is a member of the social network associated withthe trusted social network server 302. If the trusted party cannot beidentified in the members datastore 306, which for illustrative purposesis assumed to include data sufficient to identify each member of thesocial network, the trusted party is presumed to be a non-member. Inthis case, the social network invitation engine 308 sends an invitationto a trusted party device 310. In a specific implementation, the socialnetwork invitation engine 308 uses the first member one-way trust listdata or contact information derived therefrom to send the invitation tothe trusted party (e.g., an email message) that the trusted party canaccess through, typically, one of many devices (e.g., a smart phone or aweb browser on a home desktop or work computer). The precise contactinformation used (e.g., email, phone number, etc.) and the preciseidentity of the trusted party device 310 are generally implementation-and/or configuration-specific.

In the example of FIG. 3, the social network invitation engine 308receives an acceptance from the trusted third party device 310 to jointhe social network. It should be noted that just as the trusted partycan receive the invitation on, often, more than one device, the trustedparty can indicate an acceptance of the invitation on more than onedevice, and the device at which the invitation is received and thedevice from which acceptance is indicated are probably, but notnecessarily, the same device. (E.g., a user could receive an SMS messageon a smart phone and type an email on a desktop that indicatesacceptance.) In some cases, the invitation will be received on more thanone device (e.g., the invitation is received on a work computer througha browser, but the user waits until returning home to access theinvitation through a browser on a home computer, at which time the userindicates acceptance of the invitation).

In the example of FIG. 3, when the social network invitation engine 308receives an indication that the trusted party has accepted theinvitation to join the social network, the member registration engine312 registers the trusted party as a member, and can store informationassociated with the trusted party (the “second member”) in the membersdatastore 306.

In the example of FIG. 3, the reciprocal trust confirmation engine 314attempts to determine whether the second member also trusts the firstmember. If the trusted party was not initially a member, the reciprocaltrust confirmation engine 314 can attempt to determine whether thesecond member trusts the first member after the trusted party has beenregistered. In the example of FIG. 3, the reciprocal trust confirmationengine 314 provides a confirmation message to the second member device316. The second member device 316 may or may not be the same as thetrusted party device 310. Because more information is generally knownabout the second member after registration than before, the confirmationmessage could be provided through a channel that was not available tothe social network invitation engine 308 (e.g., the trusted party couldhave been identified by a phone number, and during registration thetrusted party indicated a preferred email address). Members could alsobe provided a social network address through which communications aredirected to members (e.g., members of the social network could be givennew email addresses within a domain associated with the social network,such as a business email address). It may be noted that the confirmationmessage may or may not be provided in the same message as the invitationmessage, facilitating a single transaction in which the trusted partycan register as the second member and confirm that the first member istrusted. In any case, the reciprocal trust confirmation engine 314receives second member one-way trust list data sufficient to identifythe first member as trusted by the second member. (It is assumed forillustrative purposes that the second member so indicates, though it isalso possible for the second member to not so indicate, resulting in alack of reciprocal trust.) The second member one-way trust list data caninclude an indication that the second member trusts the first member, orit could have the same characteristics as the first member one-way trustlist data as described above, but for the second member instead of thefirst member. Because the example of FIG. 3 illustrates an example inwhich the first member is a known member of the social network, it isnot necessary for the trusted social network server 302 to identify thefirst member (though an identification process could be included incertain implementations), and the reciprocal trust confirmation engine314 can determine that the first member trusts the second member (as waspreviously determined from the first member one-way trust list data inthis example) and the second member trusts the first member (as wasdetermined from the second member one-way trust list data).

In some instances, the trusted party can be identified as a member (“thesecond member”) of the social network by the trusted partyidentification engine 304. In such instances, the social networkinvitation engine 308 and the member registration engine 312 can beskipped, as is represented in the example of FIG. 3 by the dotted arrowfrom the trusted party identification engine 304 to the reciprocal trustconfirmation engine 314. It need not be the case that a confirmationmessage is generated for the second member (e.g., the reciprocal trustcould be established automatically when both the first member and thesecond member indicate reciprocal trust without informing the firstmember and the second member). In a specific implementation, thereciprocal trust confirmation engine requests confirmation from thesecond member that the first member is reciprocally trusted, and obtainssecond member one-way trust list data, for example, as was describedpreviously.

In the example of FIG. 3, when reciprocal trust between the first memberand the second member has been confirmed, the reciprocated trustmanagement engine 218 creates a private communication environment forthe first member and the second member, which may be referred to in thispaper as a “folder.” For illustrative purposes, the folder is maintainedin the master reciprocated trust folders datastore 320.

Alternatively, if the second member was identified as a member by thetrusted party identification engine 304, the social network invitationengine 308 and the member registration engine 312 can be bypassed, whichis represented in FIG. 3 as the dashed arrow from the trusted partyidentification engine 304 to the reciprocal trust confirmation engine314.

FIG. 4 depicts an example of a system 400 including trust folders. Thesystem 400 includes a trusted social network server 402, a contentsource 408, and a first member device 414. The trusted social networkserver 402 includes a trust folder creation engine 404, a trust foldersdatastore 406, a trusted source identification engine 410, a bulkincoming datastore 412, a trusted destination identification engine 416,and a bulk outgoing datastore 418.

In the example of FIG. 4, the trust folder creation engine 404 creates afolder for a first member in accordance with a first member one-waytrust list. In a specific embodiment, the trust folder creation engine404 creates a folder for each content source in the first member one-waytrust list. That is, for each content source that the first memberidentifies as trusted, the trust folder creation engine creates a trustfolder, which is maintained in the trust folders datastore 406.

In the example of FIG. 4, an incoming content scenario is conceptuallycorrelated to the dotted box 420. In the incoming content scenario, thetrusted source identification engine 410 receives content from thecontent source 408. If the content source 408 is identifiable as beingrepresented in the first member one-way trust list, then the trustfolder creation engine 404 will have created a trust folder associatedwith the content source 408 into which the content from the contentsource 408 is stored (i.e., the content is stored in the trust foldersdatastore 406). If, on the other hand, the content source 408 is notidentifiable as being represented in the first member one-way trustlist, then the trust folder creation engine 404 will not have created atrust folder associated with the content source 408, and the content isinstead stored in the bulk incoming datastore 412. It should be notedthat for the purpose of this example, if an administrator has indicatedthat the content source 408 is constructively trusted by the firstmember, the content source 408 is treated as identifiable in the firstmember one-way trust list. It should be further noted that the contentsource 408 can be associated with a member or a non-member, and in thecase of a non-member, the content source 408 can be associated with anentity that is capable of becoming a member (e.g., a human or artificialentity) or a content source that cannot be made a member (e.g., an RSSfeed). In alternative implementations, the bulk incoming datastore 412can be, for example, treated much like a junk mail folder (or a standardemail inbox where trusted content is stored in the trust folders),temporary (e.g., while a member transitions into a social network, butbefore the member has had a chance to update the first member one-waytrust list with trusted content sources), or automatically deleted(e.g., in accordance with rules in a corporate network in which onlytrusted sources of content are accepted).

In the example of FIG. 4, an outgoing content scenario is conceptuallycorrelated to the dotted box 422. In the outgoing content scenario, thetrusted destination identification engine 416 receives content from thefirst member device 414. If the destination is identifiable as beingrepresented in the first member one-way trust list, then the trustfolder creation engine 404 will have created a trust folder associatedwith the destination into which the content from the first member isstored (i.e., the content is stored in the trust folders datastore 406).If, on the other hand, the destination is not identifiable as beingrepresented in the first member one-way trust list, then the trustfolder creation engine 404 will not have created a trust folderassociated with the destination, and the content is instead stored inthe bulk outgoing datastore 418. It should be noted that the destinationis identified in the first member one-way trust list as a trusted source(not necessarily as a trusted destination). However, content from thefirst member that is directed to the destination will be stored in thesame trust folder (or perhaps in an associated folder) as the trustedcontent source. This will enable the first member to manage all incomingand outgoing content associated with the trusted source in a masterlocation.

The trust folders described in association with the example of FIG. 4may or may not be reciprocated trust folders. If a second member who isa trusted content source of the first member indicates that the firstmember is a trusted content source, the trust folder of the first membercan be converted into a reciprocated trust folder to which both thefirst member and the second member have access. It may or may not be thecase that historical data (prior to the second member indicatingreciprocal trust) is made available to both the first member and thesecond member through the reciprocated trust folder. For example, a newmember to a trust folder might be granted access to content timestampedon or after the new member became part of the group associated with thetrust folder, and access to older content may or may not be granted on acase-by-case basis that can be considered implementation- and/orconfiguration-specific.

In a specific implementation, a member will have the ability to modifythe contents, format, and other characteristics of the member's trustfolders, but trusted content sources will not have the same control overthe trust folder unless the trust folder is converted to a reciprocaltrust folder. Until the trust folder is converted, content sources mayonly have the ability to send content, such as messages.

FIG. 5 depicts an example of a system 500 for controlling access to atrust folder. The system 500 includes a trusted social network server502, a trusted content source 504, and a group member device 510. Thetrusted social network server 502 includes a content management engine506, a trust folders datastore 508, an access control engine 512, and anaccess control settings datastore 514.

In the example of FIG. 5, an incoming content scenario is conceptuallycorrelated to the dotted box 516. In the incoming content scenario, thecontent management engine 506 receives content from the trusted contentsource 504. In a specific implementation, the content management engine506 includes a trusted source identification engine, such as the trustedsource identification engine 410 (FIG. 4). In another specificimplementation, the content management engine 506 includes a trusteddestination identification engine, such as the trusted destinationidentification engine 416 (FIG. 4). For illustrative purposes, since thecontent source from which the content is received is presumed to betrusted, the content management engine 506 puts the content in a trustfolder of the trust folders datastore 508. In a specific implementation,the content management engine can include a content blocking rulesliding scale ranging from blocking no content sources to blocking allcontent sources that are not identifiable from the first one-way trustlist.

In the example of FIG. 5, a content access request scenario isconceptually correlated to the dotted box 518. In the content accessrequest scenario, the access control engine 512 receives a request forcontent from a group member device 510. For illustrative purposes, therequest is presumed to come from a group member of the relevant trustfolder. The access control engine 512 checks access control settings inthe access control settings datastore 514 for the group member, whichpresumably means the group member is granted access to the trust folder.Accordingly, the access control engine 512 enables access to thecontent. If a request was from a member who did not have access rights,the access control engine 512 would instead deny the request. In aspecific implementation, the request may or may not be explicit in thesense that a member can see folders to which the member has access, butcannot see folders to which the member does not have access. In such animplementation, the request for content can be considered part of thetransaction that involves, e.g., opening content that is visible to themember. In a specific implementation, different group members may or maynot have different access rights for certain content. For example, onegroup member might have read-only access to some or all content in atrust folder or the access control settings could implement documentversioning controls to grant read/write access to a first member whoopens content, but read-only access to a second member who opens thesame content. Access control settings can also be constrained byparameters, such as time, file type, author, etc. For example, a contentsource could send a message that must be read within 24 hours or themessage is no longer available for viewing (an example of atime-constrained access control), or some or all contents of a trustfolder might only be accessible during normal business hours (anotherexample of a time-constrained access control), or only authors ofcontent can open the content in read/write mode (an example of a filecharacteristic-constrained access control).

In the example of FIG. 5, the access control engine 512 can alsofacilitate modification of access control settings in the access controlsettings datastore 514. A group member associated with a trust foldermay be given access to a user interface or instructions could beprovided through other means (e.g., by sending an email message to asystem mailbox with control parameters in the message). Systemsadministrators may also be able to adjust access control settings usingthe access control engine 512.

Advantageously, the access control engine 512 can include an accesscertification engine that indicates when a member of a group hasreceived a message in the trust folder. Access certification is enabledby master storage of the contents of the trust folder, and a need formembers to access content from the master storage. (Depending uponaccess control rules, it may or may not be possible to copy content to alocation outside of master storage, as well.) The system may or may notrequire that a member enter a password or some other identifyinginformation before opening certain content to ensure that the member hasindeed opened the content, rather like a user must sign for certifiedmail before receiving the certified mail.

In the example of FIG. 5, the access control engine 512 can controlaccess by group members to content in the applicable trust folder. Forexample, a member may have read and write permissions to content, butstill not be allowed to forward the content to an untrusted destination.Since messages between group members are content, this can includeprohibiting group members from cc'ing untrusted destinations, becausethat would entail sending content (the message) to a non-group member.Access control could also take the form of alerts. For example, if afirst group member sends a message to the group and cc's a non-groupmember, the first group member could receive a warning that the messageis being sent to a non-group member, giving the first group member theopportunity to reconsider. Communications to non-group members couldalso involve heightened security processes, such as requiring metadatacleaning, preventing the sending of certain types of content, limitingthe size of the content, restricting the times when the content can besent, or the like.

FIG. 6 depicts an example of a system 600 capable of forwarding contentto and receiving replies from a destination that does not have access toa trust folder. The system 600 includes a trusted social network server602, a group member device 604, and a non-group member device 610. Thetrusted social network server 602 includes a content management engine606 and a trust folders datastore 608.

In the example of FIG. 6, the content management engine 606 receivescontent from a group member device 604, which it puts in the trustfolder of the trust folders data store 608 that is associated with theapplicable group. For illustrative purposes, it is assumed that thecontent includes both the group as a destination and another destinationthat is not associated with a group member. For example, a corporateteam may be working with a third party contractor who is not grantedaccess to the contents of the trust folder for the group, but isinvolved in certain aspects of a project. In the example of FIG. 6, thecontent from a group member is put in the trust folder for the group,but since non-group members do not have access to the trust group, thecontent is also forwarded to the non-group member for receipt at thenon-group member device 610.

Continuing the example of FIG. 6, the non-group member to which contentwas forwarded may reply to a forwarded message. In a specificimplementation, the content management engine 606 can use messagecharacteristics, such as knowledge that content put in a trust folderwas forwarded to a destination that is identified as the source of thereply message, to determine that the reply should be put in the sametrust folder. In this way, communications that extend to parties thatare outside of a group can be managed in the relevant master location.

FIG. 7 depicts an example of a system 700 for determining and indicatinga global trust level for a member of a trusted social network. Thesystem 700 includes a trusted social network server 702, a first memberdevice 704, a second member device 718, and a third member device 722.The trusted social network server 702 includes a member certificationengine 706, a global trust level datastore 708, a members datastore 710,a member monitoring engine 712, a member ranking engine 714, a memberrating engine 716, and a global trust level indication engine 720.

In the example of FIG. 7, the member certification engine 706 receivesdata from the first member device 704. The data can be in associationwith a registration procedure during which a party becomes a member of asocial network associated with the trusted social network server 702.The member certification engine 706 can use techniques such asauthentication (e.g., setting and requiring use of a password by thefirst member, determining answers to security questions that must attimes be answered by the first member), device validation, acertification authority, or the like to ensure that first memberactivities can be properly attributed to the first member. The membercertification engine 706 can also verify email addresses, request data(in general, the more data, such as home address, phone number, creditcard number, etc., the stronger the certification can be). In general,the amount and quality of data that can be received from the firstmember device 704 is at least in part determinative of the global trustlevel that is stored in the global trust level datastore 708 for thefirst user. Some or all of the data can also be stored in the membersdatastore 710 and, depending upon the implementation, an increase in theamount or quality of the data may result in the member certificationengine 706 reevaluating the base global trust level for the firstmember.

In the example of FIG. 7, the member monitoring engine 712 monitorsactivity associated with the first member. Such activity can include thenumber of members that trust the first member, the number of invitationsthe first member sent to other parties, the number of rejections of thefirst member's invitations, or the like. In general, if there are manymembers that trust the first member, the first member sends relativelyfew invitations, and the first member receives relatively fewrejections, the member ranking engine 714 will increase the global trustlevel of the first member in the global trust level datastore 708.Conversely, if there are few members that trust the first member, thefirst member sends excessive numbers of invites (which may becharacteristic of a spammer), and the first member invitations arefrequently rejected (which may also be characteristic of a spammer), themember ranking engine 714 may decrease the global trust level of thefirst member in the global trust level datastore 708.

In the example of FIG. 7, the member rating engine 716 can receive anexplicit trust ranking of the first member from the second member device718. High explicit trust ratings from other members can cause the memberrating engine 716 to increase the global trust level of the first memberin the global trust level datastore 708, while low explicit trustratings from the other members can cause the member rating engine 716 todecrease the global trust level of the first member in the global trustlevel datastore 708.

In the example of FIG. 7, the global trust level indication engine 720can provide an indication of the global trust level of the first memberto a third member device 722. This can assist the third member in adetermination whether to trust the first member. In a specificimplementation, a global trust level indicator is provided inassociation with the first member when the first member's profile isviewed. Alternatively, the global trust level of members can beindicated next to usernames for members (or other readily apparentlocations) if it is desirable to make the global trust level moreubiquitous.

FIG. 8 depicts a flowchart 800 of an example of a method for maintaininga trust folder. This method and other methods are depicted as seriallyarranged modules. However, modules of the methods may be reordered, orarranged for parallel execution as appropriate. In the example of FIG.8, the flowchart 800 starts at module 802 with registering a member.Member registration can include member certification to establish aninitial global trust level for the new member, based upon the perceivedeffectiveness of the data provided by the member, or otherwisecollected, to identify the member as who the member purports to be. In aspecific implementation, a systems administrator may register membersusing, for example, employee data.

In the example of FIG. 8, the flowchart 800 continues to optional module804 with receiving a subscription to a theme from the member. A theme isa social network to which the member is allowed to subscribe. Wheremultiple social networks are available, the multiple social networks canbe referred to as “themes” in accordance with the terminology of aparticular reduction to practice. Registration can entitle a member tocertain theme subscriptions. Registration and subscription to a themecan, in an alternative, be accomplished in a single subscriptiontransaction. In a specific implementation, themes can representdepartments or teams within an enterprise, and subscriptions may or maynot be done on behalf of members by systems administrators or managers.

Upon registration, a member could receive a screen shot similar to thatprovided by way of example and not limitation in FIG. 9. The screen shot900 of FIG. 9 is a simple congratulatory message that might beappropriate for a small hand-held device such as an iphone followingsubscription to a theme. (In an implementation that does not includethemes, the screen shot could be modified to refer to registrationinstead.) A different screen shot may be desirable in other cases, suchas when the member registers using a desktop computer or when the memberis automatically registered by a systems administrator.

In the example of FIG. 8, the flowchart 800 continues to module 806 withreceiving settings from the member. In some instances, a member may berequired to provide at least some settings, while in others defaultsettings may be provided. Members may or may not be required to providenew settings with each subscription to a theme. In a specificimplementation, there are global member settings that are applicableacross themes (provided when the member registers) and theme settingsthat must be set each time a member subscribes to a new theme. Inanother specific implementation, some or all of the settings are set onbehalf of a member by a systems administrator.

To facilitate receiving settings from the member, the member couldreceive a screen shot similar to that provided by way of example and notlimitation in FIG. 10. The screen shot 1000 of FIG. 10 is a simplesettings list that might be appropriate for a small hand-held device.Screen shots 11-25 correspond to settings selections 1002, 1004, 1006,1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016, and 1018 of FIG. 10.

When a current registered user registers to a new theme, then a newscreen is presented to the user for option of transferring settinginformation, for example usage settings, myprilist, users blocked, andusers and categories followed. See, e.g., FIG. 11. If a currentregistered user is subscribing to a new Theme, they are first directedto this page. Here a member has the option to copy some items from thepreviously registered Theme, for example USER SETTINGS and USAGESETTINGS as well as merge PERSONAL FOLDER, MYPRILIST, BLOCK USER list,and FOLLOW USER list from one of the previously setup Themes.

If user is not interested in copying any settings from another Theme,user can select NO on any of the options and enter a new USERID and newEMAIL. If user is going to use the previously registered Theme to setuptheir new Theme, then user first selects the Theme that they will use tocopy from the pulldown menu, then select YES or NO on and of the optionsand then click MERGE NOW.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If user continues to use an existing USERID and EMAIL,user will continue accruing credits combined from all those Themes usingthe same userid and email, and the USER RATING and RANKING will also beshared. If user creates a new USERID and EMAIL, then credits for the newTheme and rating and ranking for this user will start from scratch.

-   -   USER RULES AND GUIDELINES 1002: This screen provides the        description of the rules and guidelines for all members and the        terms of use. In a specific implementation, members must accept        the agreement by clicking on a check box. In such an        implementation, if the rules and guidelines are not accepted, a        user cannot become a member. See, e.g., FIG. 12.    -   USER TUTORIALS 1004: User guidelines, tips, examples.    -   USER SETTINGS 1006: This screen allows you to enter general user        information. See, e.g., FIGS. 13 and 14.    -   USAGE SETTINGS 1008: This screen allows you to set preferences.        See, e.g., FIGS. 15 and 16. Default home page can be set to the        five main folders described in many of the examples in this        paper, Categories, Top Articles, Favorites, Personal, or Search.        Display status enables members or administrators to display or        hide content that has a certain status, such as new, not read,        read, favorite, or don't display. In an embodiment in which a        member is not “always on” it can be desirable to enable the        member to select data sync frequency (e.g., every 15 minutes, 30        minutes, 60 minutes, or manually). Default line display is a        relatively simple display configuration, which is representative        of display configurations.

On this screen you need to make a decision on one of the importantquestion about private messages. You have the option to select NoPrivate, meaning no private messages are allowed to your INBOX, Open toEveryone (which is the default setting), meaning any user can send you aprivate message, or My Private List Only, meaning you create a PrivateList using the LIST BUILDER, which limits the private messages to thoseuserids included in the Private List. You can block any user sending youa private message.

In the My Private List Members, you can include the USERIDs, EMAILaddresses, and DOMAIN LIST. In order for anyone to send you privatemessage, they have to be subscriber to the Theme. However, if you do notknow their userid, but their email address that they have used tosubscribe to the Theme, you can enter the EMAIL and the system willcrosscheck and include those users as part of your MYPRILIST. Inaddition, you can allow a domain list to send you a private message byentering, for example, company.com. In this case, any user with asubscription email company.com will be able to send a private message toyou. You can take notes here regarding your MYPRILIST to remind yourselfactions you have taken or need to take.

-   -   ALERT SETTINGS 1010: This screen allows you to set alerts when        there is a posting in a given category or there is a posting by        a user. See, e.g., FIG. 17. A member can set alerts and follow        activities in categories or activities by a content source. If        the member is interested in following a category of a content        source, the first option in this example is to decide receiving        alerts any day of the week or just specific days. The member        selects a first alert by clicking, which highlights the alert.        Then, the member selects a Category within the CATEGORY box, or        selects ALL and a content source within the USERID box, or        selects ALL. Here are some sample combinations:

CATEGORY USERID KEYWORD COMMENTS: ALL USERID1 Following all activitiesof USERID1 in all categories; CATEGORY1 ALL Following all activities inCATEGORY1 for all users.

CATEGORY USERID KEYWORD COMMENTS: CATEGORY2 USERID2 Following allactivities of USERID2 in CATEGORY2; ALL ALL KEYWORD Following keyword inall categories; CATEGORY1 ALL KEYWORD Following keyword in CATEGORY1.

The member can also receive an alert whenever a message comes to theINBOX of the member. The member can turn ON or OFF the followingoptions:

SOUND: Receive an audio alarm

VISUAL: Receive a visual alarm

PRI: Receive a personal message in your INBOX

If you click on FOLLOW CAT or FOLLOW USER button in another page,clicking CLOSE will take you back to the page you came from.

-   -   EARN CREDITS 1012: Explanation of how users can earn credits.        See, e.g., FIGS. 18-23.

REFER A FRIEND: You will fill out a form to send us the contactinformation of the person you would like to refer to us as a potentialsubscriber to our Application and this Theme. We will inform that youhave referred them to us.

TELL A FRIEND: You will fill out a form to send directly to your contactperson you would like to refer as a potential subscriber to ourApplication and this Theme.

MAKE SUGGESTIONS: We welcome your suggestions to improve our Applicationand service. Even if it was an idea that was suggested by another user,we still give you a credit for taking the effort, and we appreciatethat.

REPORT PROBLEMS: We welcome any problems you can report to us so that wecan continue providing an exceptional service to all of our subscribers.You can also earn credits by POSTING/REPLYING articles to Non-Privatecategories such as PUBLIC (PUB) and Non-Personal (NP) categories. Forexample, by posting and replying to articles/messages for PRI and MPRIclass categories you will not earn credits. Furthermore, you can earnmore credits by creating new CATEGORIES, Private or Public. You cancreate a category within the PERSONAL Main Screen. However, in order toearn your credit, you need to invite at least one person to thiscategory. In fact, the more people you invite the more credit you willearn. Please note that an author of a new Category must create the firstarticle like an Introduction to the Category so that other users whomight be interested in participating know the purpose and boundaries ofthe category.

You automatically earn credits by subscribing to Themes directly throughpayments.

You can use these credits toward the subscription of other Themes.

-   -   SPONSOR SETTINGS 1014: Explanation of how users can earn credits        by receiving and reading advertisements from sponsors. On this        screen, user can turn on accepting advertisements from sponsors        and earn credits. User can set the maximum number of daily        advertisements that will be delivered to the INBOX. User can        turn off receiving any advertisement by selecting NONE, or        select MAX3, MAX5 or MAX10, indicating maximum of 3, 5, or 10        advertisements per day.

In addition, user can disable a sponsor by clicking on DS column in thelist below for that sponsor, indicating that user will not be deliveredany advertisement from that sponsor. On the other hand, user can clickon AF for a sponsor indicating that user would be interested inreceiving advertisements specifically from this sponsor.

Typically, user will be delivered private messages form sponsor based ontheir most active/participated categories. For example, if user selectedto receive maximum of three messages, then the sponsors of the top threecategories that the user is most active will be able to send messages tothe user. Similarly, if user selected to receive maximum of fivemessages, then the sponsors of the top five categories that the user ismost active will be able to send messages to the user. Incase where userhas selected a sponsor as AF who is not one of the top categorysponsors, then the last category sponsor is replaced by the sponsor AFselected by the user. Similarly, if user is selected a sponsor as DS whois one of the top category sponsors, then the DS sponsor will bereplaced by the next most active category sponsor.

Complete list of all Sponsors in this Theme are listed on this screen.User can review the list and click on SPONSOR NAME, USERID or CAT to getmore information about the sponsor, the user representing the sponsorand the category being sponsored.

-   -   MY STATISTICS 1016: Statistics about the user and usage. See,        e.g., FIGS. 24 and 25.    -   VERSION 1018: Information about the version of the software        being used on a particular electronic hardware device.

In the example of FIG. 8, the flowchart 800 continues to module 808 withcreating a personal folder for the member. In a specific implementation,a personal folder is one of multiple top-level user interface folders.FIG. 26 depicts an example of multiple user interface folders, includinga personal folder.

In the example of FIG. 8, the flowchart 800 continues to decision point810 where it is determined whether an administrator will indicate thatcontent sources are constructively trusted by the member. If it isdetermine that an administrator will not indicate that content sourcesare constructively trusted by the member (810-N), then the flowchart 800continues to module 812 with maintaining in the personal folder trustfolders for each trusted content source of the member. If, on the otherhand, it is determined that an administrator will indicate that contentsources are constructively trusted by the member (810-Y), then theflowchart 800 continues to module 814 with receiving constructivelytrusted content sources from the administrator and then to module 812 aswas just described (where trusted content sources of the member includeexplicitly and constructively trusted content sources).

FIG. 27 depicts a flowchart 2700 of an example of a method for generalnavigation in a trusted social network structure. In the example of FIG.27, the flowchart 2700 starts at module 2702 with displaying a startpage. The top level screen can include, for example, userid and passwordfields (potentially with an indication of new articles, articles notread, total articles, and alerts for the member), though passwords mayor may not be needed in some implementations. The user may also be giventhe option of selecting whether to sync at login. FIG. 28 depicts aconceptual diagram 2800 of a screen shot at a top level of a socialnetwork structure. In the example of FIG. 28, the examples of fieldsjust mentioned are illustrated.

In the example of FIG. 27, the flowchart 2700 continues to optionalmodule 2704 with selecting a theme. Since themes are optional, selectinga theme may not be an option. In the example of FIG. 28, two themes are“registered” (subscribed for) and two available themes are notregistered. It may or may not be possible to select new themes incertain environments even where multiple themes are available (e.g., ifa systems administrator assigns themes to members). In a system in whichmembers have to pay for certain themes, members can use earned creditsin lieu of cash payment.

In the example of FIG. 28, users can access a start page throughportable or non-portable electronic hardware devices. Registeredmembers, when they click on a Theme, are taken to the appropriate homepage that displays, for example a Categories list, Articles list, andindividual Articles. When a member clicks a Theme that they have notregistered yet, the member will be taken to a new page for informationabout the Theme as well as registration information. In the example ofFIG. 28, each Theme has numbers on the corners of a display window,which gives additional information about the specific Theme. Theregistered themes, for example display new articles, not read articles,total articles, and any alerts that user may have setup. For the Themesnot yet subscribed, total user, total categories, total articles and thecredits required for subscription to the Theme are displayed.

Referring once again to the example of FIG. 27, the flowchart 2700continues to module 2706 with selecting a main page. The main pagesdescribed in this example are a categories main page, a top articlesmain page, a favorites main page, a personal main page and a search mainpage. In a specific implementation, the categories main screen can be adefault home page, which assumes an initial “categories” determinationat decision point 2708. Depending upon the implementation, the home pagecan be changed to some other page (not shown).

In the example of FIG. 27, the flowchart 2700 continues to decisionpoint 2708 where it is determined whether the categories main page hasbeen selected. If it is determined that the categories main page hasbeen selected (2708-Y), then the flowchart 2700 continues to module 2710where the categories main page is displayed. FIG. 29 depicts aconceptual diagram 2900 of a screen shot of an example of a categoriesmain page. In the example of FIG. 29, a user can navigate to a startscreen (see, e.g., FIG. 28) using the START arrow 2902 or to a settingsscreen (see, e.g., FIG. 10) using the SETTINGS arrow 2904. As with otherscreen shots illustrated by way of example in this paper, the theme nameis shown at the top of every screen as “[THEME].” The square brackets inthis context are intended to represent a blank that would have theactual name in a screen shot, assuming the screen shot is similar inthis respect to the illustrated one. In the example of FIG. 29,categories in the theme are listed, with a default sorting based onrank. In a specific implementation, ranking a category involvescalculating based on the ranking of each article within the category.Rankings for articles can be calculated based on statistics from memberactivity, which can be monitored on, e.g., a continuous, periodic,arbitrary, or occasional basis. Data collected in association withmembers can include, e.g., the number of times an article was read,ranked, commented on, responded to, shared, etc. and/or other statisticscan be used to calculate the rating for each article. In a specificimplementation, each column of the screen shot 2900 is sortable, e.g.,numerically, alphabetically, alphanumerically, etc. from high to low orlow to high. In the example of FIG. 29, the Date column indicates thecreation date for the category; Rank indicates the number one (highest)ranked category; Cat. Name is the category name; Class can include, in aspecific implementation, an indication that the entry is non-personal(NP), which can mean the entry was created by an entity other than themember, public (PUB), which can mean the entry was created by a memberand can be viewed by any other member, and sponsor (SPO), which can meanthe category has a sponsor; Status can indicate the number of readarticles by the member versus total number of articles in that category;Cat. Type can include types such as, e.g., Instructional, Informational,Review/Analysis, Profile, Inspirational, Research, Opinion, ResourceList, Tips, Advice, Best of List, Humor, Tutorial, interview, Survey,etc. (INSTRU, INFORM, REVIEW, PROFIL, INSPIRA, RESEAR, OPINION, RESOULT,TIPS, ADVICE, BESTLT, HUMOR, TUTOR, INTERV, SURVEY); Cat. Scope is acategory scope that can include International (INT), National (NAT),State (STA), City (CITY) or the like; Rating indicates how other usersrated this particular Category, which can be a reflection of, e.g., onlythose elected to rate the category; Scope Name can be included in thecase of a Cat. Scope of NAT, STA, or CITY, in which case Scope Name caninclude more specific information. There are also two buttons, AF onleft and DS on right for each category: AF represents an option to Addto Favorite, which, when selected, adds the category to your Favoritesfolder (though the category is not necessarily moved to the Favoritesfolder, but rather the selection enables easy access to this categoryfrom the Favorites folder, and the category remains in the CategoriesMain Screen and the AF button is highlighted for easy identification);and DS represents the option to Don't Show, which puts the category tothe bottom of the categories list and dehighlights the category name sothat it cannot be selected (in a specific implementation, when sorted bycategory name, those categories marked as DS will always show at thebottom). A member can scroll up or down through the categories bytouching an appropriate location on the screen or by using otherapplicable navigation controls. It may be desirable to include a quickaccess to the top of the list or to the bottom of the list by clickingon Top or Bottom, which are buttons located at the top of the screen.

Referring once again to the example of FIG. 27, the flowchart 2700continues to module 2712 with displaying a category page. (Forillustrative expedience, it is assumed that a member selects a categoryfrom the categories main page.) FIG. 30 depicts a conceptual diagram3000 of a screen shot of an example of a category page. The structure ofthe category screen is similar to the main screen, where the mainnavigational buttons for CATEGORIES (C), TOP ARTICLES (T), FAVORITES(F), PERSONAL (P) and SEARCH (S) folders are found at the bottom of thescreen. At the top of the screen you find Theme and Category names, aswell as class, type, and scope of the [CATEGORY1]. Rating informationabout this category is displayed along with a button to rate it. Thearrows at the top of the screen are used for navigating back to theCategories Main screen (see, e.g., FIG. 29) or to the SETTINGS screen(see, e.g., FIG. 10). You can rate [CATEGORY1] by clicking the RATEbutton. Below this button is the current rating for this category. Youcan set an alert to follow members of or a specific member of thiscategory by clicking the FOLLOW button. Below this button are thestatistics about how many members are following this category throughsetting alerts and the total number of members participating either byreading or by posting. The POST NEW button enables user to post anarticle to the Category. In a specific implementation, each column issortable numerically, alphabetically, or alphanumerically, high to lowor low to high. Here are brief description for each column: Dateindicates the creation date for the Article; Rank indicates the rank ofthe article; From indicates who posted the article; Art. Name is thename or subject of the article; Status can indicate whether the articleis New (N), Not Read (NR), Read (R), Favorite (F), Don't Show (DS), andthe status of the article can change over time; Rating indicates howother users rated this particular article. (Rating can be a reflectionof only those elected to rate the article.) User can scroll up or downthrough the list of articles by using an applicable navigation control.Also, there is a quick access to the top of the list or the bottom ofthe list by clicking the TOP or BOTTOM button.

Referring once again to the example of FIG. 27, the flowchart 2700continues to module 2714 with displaying an article page. (Forillustrative expedience, it is assumed that a member selects an articlefrom the category page.) FIG. 31 depicts a conceptual diagram 3100 of ascreen shot of an example of an article page. At top of the screen youfind Theme, Category and Article names, as well as class, type, andscope. Rating information about this article as well as a button to rateit is provided at the top of the page. Rating may or may not be areflection of only those elected to rate the article. The arrows at thetop are for navigating back to the Category page (see, e.g., FIG. 30) orto a SHARE page. Using Share will allow you to send the article toanother person using email, text message, share it with facebook ortwitter, or the like. Here are brief description for each column: ID isa unique number for the article which can be used for searching orreporting purposes; Date/time indicates the creation date and time forthe Article; Rank indicates the rank of the article relative to otherarticles; From identifies the user who posted the article. The SUBJECTbutton allows you to choose a subject (which can be preselected) for thearticle. The RATE MEMBER button allows you to rate the user who postedthe article. The FOLLOW MEMBER button allows you to follow the user whoposted the article (for all categories or a subset thereof). Below theArticle, you will find a Next and Previous navigational arrow. The Nextarrow will display the next article in the article list for thecategory, whereas the Previous arrow will display the previous articlein the list for the category. The Add to Favorites (AF) button adds thearticle to favorites (the member may or may not select a category from alist or create a new custom category in a Favorites folder) and changesthe status of the article to Favorite (F). The Don't Show (DS) buttonputs the article at the bottom of the articles list for the category.The REPLY/POST button will take you to the Reply/Post page. The FORWARDbutton will take you to the Forward page. The MARK READ button changesthe status of the article to Read, and de-highlights the article in thelist. In a specific implementation, the MARK READ button changes to aMARK UNREAD button when an article that is marked read is in the displaypane, which when selected changes the status of the article to Not Read(NR) and highlights the article in the list. Basically clicking on theMARK READ or MARK UNREAD buttons switches back and forth between them.The FULL PAGE button enlarges the view of the article page. For example,one or more of the navigation arrows buttons and other data can beeliminated to make more room. The FULL PAGE button can be replaced witha SMALL DISPLAY button that switches back to a page that displays thearticle in a smaller pane. FIG. 32 depicts a conceptual diagram 3200 ofa screen shot of an example of an article page in full page displaymode.

In the example of FIG. 27, with reference once again to decision point2708, if it is determined that the categories main page has not beenselected (2708-N), then the flowchart 2700 continues to decision point2716 where it is determined whether the top articles main page has beenselected. If it is determined that the top articles main page has beenselected (2716-Y), then the flowchart 2700 continues to module 2718where the top articles main page is displayed. FIG. 33 depicts aconceptual diagram 3300 of a screen shot of an example of a top articlesmain page. The structure of the Top Articles main screen is similar tothe main screen of Categories, where the main navigational buttons forCATEGORIES (C), TOP ARTICLES (T), FAVORITES (F), PERSONAL (P) and SEARCH(S) folders are found at the bottom of the screen. At top of the screenyou find Theme name. The arrows at the top are used for navigating backto the HOME page or to the SETTINGS page. Each column is sortable. Hereare brief description for each column: DATE indicates the creation datefor the Article; Rank indicates the rank of the article relative toother articles; From indicates the user who posted the content; Cat.Name is the category name to which the article belongs; Class can be,e.g., Non-Personal (NP), Public (PUB), or Sponsor (SPO); Status canindicate, e.g., New (N), Not Read (NR), Read (R), Favorite (F), or Don'tShow (DS); Cat. Type can be, e.g., Instructional, Informational,Review/Analysis, Profile, Inspirational, Research, Opinion, ResourceList, Tips, Advice, Best of List, Humor, Tutorial, interview, Survey,etc. (INSTRU, INFORM, REVIEW, PROFIL, INSPIRA, RESEAR, OPINION, RESOULT,TIPS, ADVICE, BESTLT, HUMOR, TUTOR, INTERV, SURVEY); Cat. Scope can beInternational (INT), National (NAT), State (STA), City (CITY) (in thecase of NAT, STA, or CITY, more specific information can be entered);Rating indicates how other users rated this particular article. Membercan scroll up or down the list of articles using applicable navigationcontrols and select the TOP button to go to the top of the list or theBOTTOM button to go to the bottom of the list.

In the example of FIG. 27, the flowchart 2700 returns to module 2714 asdescribed previously. Depending upon the implementation, the articlepage may vary somewhat. FIG. 34 depicts a conceptual diagram 3400 of ascreen shot of an example of a top articles article page, which is quitesimilar to the categories article page described previously (see, e.g.,FIG. 31).

In the example of FIG. 27, with reference once again to decision point2716, if it is determined that the top articles main page has not beenselected (2716-N), then the flowchart 2700 continues to decision point2720 where it is determined whether the favorites main page has beenselected. If it is determined that the favorites main page has beenselected (2720-Y), then the flowchart 2700 continues to module 2722where the favorites main page is displayed. FIG. 35 depicts a conceptualdiagram 3500 of a screen shot of an example of a favorites main page,which is quite similar to the categories main page described previously(see, e.g., FIG. 29).

In the example of FIG. 27, the flowchart 2700 continues to module 2724with displaying a favorites article list page. FIG. 36 depicts aconceptual diagram 3600 of a screen shot of an example of a favoritesarticle list page, which is quite similar to the category page describedpreviously (see, e.g., FIG. 30).

In the example of FIG. 27, the flowchart 2700 returns to module 2714 asdescribed previously. Depending upon the implementation, the articlepage may vary somewhat. FIG. 37 depicts a conceptual diagram 3700 of ascreen shot of an example of a favorite article page, which is quitesimilar to the categories article page described previously (see, e.g.,FIG. 31).

In the example of FIG. 27, with reference once again to decision point2720, if it is determined that the favorites main page has not beenselected (2720-N), then the flowchart 2700 continues to decision point2726 where it is determined whether the personal main page has beenselected. If it is determined that the personal main page has beenselected (2726-Y), then the flowchart 2700 continues to module 2728where the personal main page is displayed. FIG. 38 depicts a conceptualdiagram 3800 of a screen shot of an example of a personal main page.

The screen shown in the diagram 3800 is similar to the categories mainscreen. The diagram 3800 shows a theme name listed at the top. An arrowat the top allows a user to navigate to the HOME page while anotherarrow at the top allows the user to navigate to the SETTING page. Thescreen shown in the diagram 3800 lists the user's personal categories,such as PRI (corresponding to CATEGORY1), My Public (MPUB)(corresponding to CATEGORY2), and My Private (MPRI) (corresponding toCATEGORY3). The user's INBOX is automatically included in the user'sPERSONAL folder. The INBOX comprises a special category that allows oneuser to send private messages to another user using his or her USERID.The private messages will show up in the INBOX. The screen shown in thediagram 3800 also lists other default boxes such as, an OUTBOX, aSENTBOX, a NOTEBOX, a CREDITBOX, an ALERTBOX, a POSTBOX, a RATEBOX, aSHAREBOX, a TEXTBOX, a TEMPBOX and a READBOX. The screen shown in thediagram 3800 uses a default sorting based on a column entitled “Rank.” Acategory's rank is based on the ranking of each article within thatcategory. Article ranks are based on statistics collected continuouslyfrom some, most, or all of the subscribers. Data collected from eachsubscriber includes the number of times an article was read, replied,shared, and other statistics to calculate the rating for each article.Default boxes created for the personal folder can include, for example:

-   -   INBOX: All private messages from other users stored in this        folder.    -   OUTBOX: All private messages sent to other users stored in this        folder.    -   SENTBOX: All private messages sent to other users are stored in        this folder.    -   NOTEBOX: User can create and store notes for personal use in        this folder.    -   CREDITBOX: All activities (like post, reply, etc.) related to        receiving a credit is stored in this folder.    -   ALERTBOX: Copy of the settings for all alerts set by the user        are stored in this folder.    -   POSTBOX: All postings, replies and forwards by the user are        stored in this folder.    -   RATEBOX: All ratings done by the user are stored in this folder.    -   SHAREBOX: All sharing by the user are stored in this folder.    -   TEXTMBOX: All text messages sent by the user are stored in this        folder.    -   TEMPBOX: Holds content created by the user for temporary        purposes.    -   READBOX A user can store all URL links to articles from web in        this folder, for example for future reading or reference. In        addition, original articles as text may be copied from web and        stored in this folder for future reading or reference.

The screen shown in the example of FIG. 38 allows columns to benumerically and/or alphabetically sortable, either in ascending ordescending order. The following is a brief description for each column:

DATE: Indicates the creation date for the CATEGORY.

RANK: Rank 1 indicates the number one (highest) ranked category.

CAT NAME: Category name.

CLASS: There are three types of classes for PERSONAL folder. My Public(MPUB), meaning it has been created by you and that can be viewed by anyother subscriber, My Private (MPRI), meaning it has been create by youand that can be viewed only by other users you have invited, and PRI,meaning it has been created by another user and can be viewed only byother users invited by the original author of the category. PRI alsomeans you have been invited and you are participating in this category.

STATUS: In general, status indicates the number of read articles by theuser versus total number of articles in that category. However, inspecial situations it may be INVITE, meaning you have been invited tothis category, DISCON, meaning the category has been discontinued, orDISINV, meaning you have been disinvited to the category by the originalauthor of the category.

CATEGORY TYPE: Instructional, Informational, Review/Analysis, Profile,Inspirational, Research, Opinion, Resource List, Tips, Advice, Best ofList, Humor, Tutorial, interview, Survey, etc. (INSTRU, INFORM, REVIEW,PROFIL, INSPIRA, RESEAR, OPINION, RESOULT, TIPS, ADVICE, BESTLT, HUMOR,TUTOR, INTERV, SURVEY).

CATEGORY SCOPE: International (INT), National (NAT), State (STA), City(CITY). RATING: Indicates how other users rated this particularCategory. Rating is a reflection of only those elected to rate thecategory.

The screen shown in the example of FIG. 38 also illustrates two buttons,namely, a check box (labeled “AF”) on left and a box indicating “Don'tShow” (“DS”) on right for each category: The checkbox AF is used toselect the category that a user is deleting.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 38, the button DS puts thecategory to the bottom of the categories list and de-highlights thecategory name so that it cannot be selected. When sorted by categoryname, the categories marked with the button DS will always show at thebottom. Also, the categories marked with the button DS will not updateits content. If a user clicks on the button DS for a category that he orshe has been invited, as signified with a STATUS of “INVITE,” anautomatic message goes back to the author of the category indicatingthat the author's invitation was rejected.

Other then the default boxes listed herein, the PERSONAL MAIN SCREENlists the following categories: MPUB (public categories created by theuser), MPRI (private categories created by the user) and PRI (privatecategories user has been invited and participating and those categoriesuser just has been invited). When an entry having a CLASS of “PRI” has aSTATUS of “INVITE,” there is an indication that the user has beeninvited to this private category. Clicking on the category will open upinformation relating to the category. By clicking on the category, theuser can open up category information. This is similar to the screenused in the ADD NEW CATEGORY form, where all the information has beenalready filled by the author of the category. If the user accepts theinvitation, the user can click on the button labeled “ACCEPT/DONE.” Auser can also click on the button labeled, “CANCEL” or on the buttonlabeled “DS” to put the category into Don't Show list.

In the screen shown in FIG. 38, the status can also be labeled “DISCON,”which indicates a discontinued category. Such a category can indicatethat the category was deleted by its author. The status can also belabeled, “DISINV,” which means that the author disinvited the user.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 38, the button labeled, “ADDNEW CATEGORY” indicates that a new category will be added, with a publicclass “CLASS PUB” or a private class, “CLASS PRI.” Clicking the ADD NEWCATEGORY button opens a form labeled, “ADD NEW CATEGORY” A user can thenfills out the form to create the new category.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 38, the button labeled,“DELETE CATEGORY” indicates that a category is to be deleted. In theexample of FIG. 38, a category can only be deleted by the author whocreated it. However, there can be exceptions when a category becomesdiscontinued or a user is disinvited from the category. In the case ofeither discontinuation or disinvitation, a user can also be allowed todelete the category, i.e., by selecting the category by clicking the boxon left and clicking DELETE CATEGORY. A message box can confirm theuser's action before deleting the category. There can be an option inthe message box for completely deleting the category from memory orkeeping a copy in the Personal folder with the status DISCON. DISINV andDISCON statuses can remain in a user personal folder for thosecategories until deleted. The user can click on the discontinued statusbutton “DS” for that category or delete the category. When the categoryis deleted, system need not keep track of the category and need notsynchronize the category. However, the system can inform others users ofthe category that the category was discontinued. This is done bychanging the status of the category to DISCON on all users of thecategory.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 38, the button labeled, “MYCATS” displays a of categories MPRI and MPUB, that a user has created.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 38, the button labeled,“INVITED CATEGORIES” displays a list of categories other users privatelycreated (and classified as “PRI”) and invited the user to see.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 38, the button labeled “ALLCATS” displays all of a user's Personal categories, including the user'sinbox (“INBOX”) and the users' postings and replies (“MYPOSTINGS/REPLIES”). When the user comes to the All Categories screen,all the categories are displayed. However, if user clicks on MYCATEGORIES or INVITED CATEGORIES buttons, the user interface can limitreturn back to the original Personal folder “Categories,” using avariety of limitations, such as requiring the user to click on thebutton “ALL CATS.”

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 38, the button labeled“UPDATE MY INVITATIONS” allows an author to invite other users ordisinvite other users. A check box on the left of the My Privateindicator “MPRI” can be selected before clicking on the button labeled“UPDATE MY INVITATIONS.” When a person is disinvited, the person'scategory status can change to DISINV. Once a user is disinvited, thatuser might be limited from seeing more messages (i.e., the system neednot sync this category for this user anymore) and user might be limitedform posting any more messages. Previous messages can remain in thememory until the disinvited user deletes the category. The author can belimited from disinviting only the users subscribed to the service.Other's invited by email need not be disinvited by the system until theybecome a registered user.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 38, the user can scroll up ordown through this page by a user interface element, such as a screentouch. The screen shown in the example of FIG. 38 can also allow quickaccess to the top of the list or to the bottom of the list by clickingon TOP or BOTTOM at the top of the screen.

In the example of FIG. 27, the flowchart 2700 continues to the module2730 where other personal folder pages are displayed. Examples of pagesthat can be displayed in association with a personal folder areillustrated in FIGS. 39-50.

FIG. 39 depicts a conceptual diagram 3900 of a screenshot of an exampleof a private personal category list screen “PRI.” The private categorylist screen “PRI” is similar to other Category List Screens.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 39, there is a button labeled“USERS.” The “USERS” button allows a user to find out the invited usersfor the enumerated Private Category. Like a main screen, the exemplarylist screen of FIG. 39 has main navigational buttons for CATEGORIES (C),TOP USA (T), FAVORITES (F), PERSONAL (P) and SEARCH (S) folders (allshown at the bottom of the screen).

At the top of the screen shown in the example of FIG. 39, a user canfind Theme and Category names. The screen can designate whether thecategory is non-personal (“NP”), indicating that the category wascreated by a company. The screen can also designate whether the categoryis a public category (“PUB”), indicating that a user created thecategory. The screen can contain rating information about the categoryand a rating button. The arrows at the top of the screen in FIG. 39 canbe used used for navigating back to the Categories Main Screen or to theSETTING page.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 39, clicking the button “RATECAT” can allow users to rate a Category. Below the “RATE CAT” button canbe the current rating for this category.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 39, the button “FOLLOW CAT”allows users to set an alert to follow all the users or a specific userin the category. Below the “FOLLOW CAT” button can be the statistics aabout how many users follow the category through setting alert and thetotal number of users participating either by reading or by posting.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 39, the “POST NEW” button canenable a user to post an article to the Category. Each column issortable both ways numerically or alphabetically, ascending ordescending. The following will aid one of skill in the art to furtherunderstand each column:

-   -   DATE: Can indicates the creation date for the Article.    -   RANK: Can indicate a ranking. E.g., “Rank 1” can indicate the        number one (highest) ranked article in the set.    -   FROM: Can indicate the user who posted the message.    -   SUBJECT: Can indicate the article name or subject of the        article.    -   STATUS: Can indicate any of the following things;        -   N—New—New article, meaning new since last access to the            application. Those that were New before and not read yet            will change its status to NR.        -   NR—Not Read—Article has Not been Read yet        -   R—Read—Article was Read        -   F—Favorite—Article marked as Favored        -   DS—Don't Show—Article marked as Don't Show. An article may            be marked as DS (don't show) but still stays in the list.            However, those with DS are put at the bottom of the list and            they are made un-selectable until DS button is clicked            again.    -   RATING: Can indicate how other users rated this particular        article. Rating can be limited to reflect, e.g., only those        elected to rate the article.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 39, a user can scrolls up ordown through the this list screen using a user interface element such asby touching on a touch screen. Quick access to the top of the list or tothe bottom of the list can occur with a click on the buttons labeled “T”or “B” at the top of the screen shown in the example of FIG. 39.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 39, each screen/page in eachfolder can also have a button/link to the “i” (information) pages. Clickthe “i” button can allow a user to access more specific informationabout the page he or she navigated to.

FIG. 40 depicts a conceptual diagram 4000 of a screenshot of an exampleof an “Update Invitations” screen that can be used to invite anduninvite users. The screen shown in the example of FIG. 40 displays acategory name below the Theme. The screen in the example of FIG. 40shows a “CURRENTLY INVITED” section including a LIST NAME a user hasused, as well as a list of USERID and EMAIL addresses. In the ADD NEWINVITATION OR REMOVE/DIS-INVITE section, the user can add a new LISTNAME, USERID (separated by a delineator such as a comma), or new EMAILfor invitation.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 40, once the user has enteredthe new USERID/EMAIL and MESSAGE, the user can click on ADD to add thenew people into the invited list and send a message to them. On the samescreen, the user can REMOVE/DISINVITE users by typing their USERID. Oncethe message for the people who will be removed is typed, the user canclick on the button “REMOVE” to remove and disinvite those users fromthe list and send a message to them. After completion of adding and/orremoving, the user can click on the button “DONE” to close the screen.The invited users can have this category show up in their PERSONALFOLDER with a status of “INVITE,” and can get a personal message intheir INBOX with the invitation message. Similarly those who weredisinvited will can the category status changed to “DISINV,” and theywill get a message in their INBOX with the disinvite message from theauthor.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 40, those invited who do nothave a subscriber status can receive an email message. When a person isdisinvited, the category status will change to DISINV for that user.Once a user is disinvited, that user cannot see any more messages (i.e.,the system need not sync this category for this user anymore) and usercan be limited from posting any more messages. The previous messages canremain in the memory until the category is deleted by the user. Theauthor can be limited to disinviting only the users subscribed to theservice. Other users invited by email cannot be disinvited by thesystem. However, email disinvite message can still be delivered to thedisinvited users.

FIG. 41 depicts a conceptual diagram 4100 of a screenshot of an exampleof a create new category screen shot. The button “ADD NEW CATEGORY”(shown in FIG. 38) can open up the screen ADD NEW CATEGORY, an exampleof which is shown in FIG. 41.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 41, a user can create a listusing the LIST BUILDER which can be made up of USERIDs or EMAILS,separated by a delineator such as a comma. The user can then use thecorresponding list along with additional USERID and eMails to invitepeople to the CATEGORY. The email can be limited to going to people whodo not subscriber. The emailed people can get information about thecategory, as well as about the Application. The user can use thepulldown menu to select the LIST, or start typing and matching list ofLISTs will be displayed for user to select.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 41, when a user selects aLIST, USERIDs or EMAILS can be displayed in the USERID LIST box on left.The user may alter this by deleting or adding USERIDs or EMAILS andclick on SAVE. Cut & Paste in this box is allowed. The LIST name alsocan be deleted by clicking on DELETE button. The LIST created in thisexample is shared among all the other screens utilizing the LISTBUILDER. If the goal of the user is just to create or update a list,then user can create/delete and update lists using LIST NAME by clickingon ADD NEW CATEGORY button on PERSONAL screen. After create/delete andupdate of LIST NAME is complete, the user can close the screen byclicking CANCEL button. Similarly such closing can be accomplished usingthe SHARE, PRI MESSAGE and USER SETTINGS screens. If the goal is tocontinue with the creation of a new category, then user can be promptedto enter the following information;

-   -   CATEGORY NAME: (# Characters)    -   CATEGORY CLASS: Personal (PRI, MPRI), Public (PUB, MPUB),        Sponsored (SPO) If a user is a general user, he or she can be        able to select PRI or PUB. If the user is a Sponsor, he or she        can be able to select SPO or PRI. Public means anyone can see        and participate, whereas Private means only those who have been        invited will be able to see and participate. A selection can be        required to be made in order to continue with creation of a new        category. If the Public option is selected, then there is no        need to create a list for this category and user should continue        with entering the category information. However, if the Private        was selected, a list needs to be used to invite those people to        the category.    -   CATEGORY TYPE: Instructional, Informational, Review/Analysis,        Profile, Inspirational, Research, Opinion, Resource List, Tips,        Advice, Best of List, Humor, Tutorial, interview, Survey, etc.        (INSTRU, INFORM, REVIEW, PROFIL, INSPIRA, RESEAR, OPINION,        RESOULT, TIPS, ADVICE, BESTLT, HUMOR, TUTOR, INTERV, SURVEY)    -   CATEGORY SCOPE: International (INT), National (NAT), State        (STA), City (CITY)

Additional information can include:

-   -   WHY IS THIS CATEGORY NEEDED?    -   HOW WILL USERS BENEFIT FROM THIS CATEGORY?    -   WHO WILL USE THIS CATEGORY?    -   ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 41, when a private categoryis created and a Private invitation is made, the category shows up inthe personal folder of the invited users who are subscribers. The statusof the category is set to INVITE, indicating that user has been invitedto this category. Once the user clicks on the new category and clicks onACCEPT/DONE button, the INVITE status is replaced with the common statusinfo of “# of NR/# of Total” articles count in the category. A messagegoes back to the author/inviter that the user has accepted theinvitation. If the invited user clicks on DS for that category, then anautomatic message goes back to the author/inviter of the category thatthis USERID has rejected his invitation.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 41, when the ADD NEW CATEGORYform is filled, the information in the form is saved in memory andsynced with system. System creates a new category, either Private orPublic, with the message from the Author. System re-syncs the newcategory to author's electronic hardware device. If user is a SPONSOR(system can detect sponsors from their USERID), after DONE button isclicked in the 2nd page of ADD CATEGORY SCREEN (Figure S6D), a newscreen is displayed, ADD CATEGORY SCREEN SPONSOR (FIG. 43) to the userfor filling out the specific credits that may be given to the users fortheir activities.

FIG. 42 depicts a conceptual diagram 4200 of a screenshot of an exampleof a personal inbox screen shot. The structure of the INBOX Articleslist screen is similar to the list screen of Categories, where the mainnavigational buttons for CATEGORIES (C), TOP USA (T), FAVORITES (F),PERSONAL (P) and SEARCH (S) folders are found at the bottom of thescreen. At top of the screen a user can find Theme name. The arrows atthe top can be used for navigating back to the PERSONAL CATEGORIES pageor to the SETTING page.

Each column is sortable both ways numerically or alphabetically,ascending or descending. Here are brief description for each column:

-   -   DATE: Indicates the creation date for the Article.    -   RANK: Rank 1 indicates the number one (highest) ranked article.    -   FROM: User who posted the message.    -   SUBJECT: Article name or Subject of the article.    -   STATUS: Article status indicates one of the followings;    -   N—New—New article, meaning new since last access to the        application. Those that were New before and not read yet will        change its status to NR.    -   NR—Not Read—Article has Not been Read yet    -   R—Read—Article was Read    -   F—Favorite—Article marked as Favored    -   DS—Don't Show—Article marked as Don't Show. An article may be        marked as DS (don't show) but still stays in the list. However,        those with DS are put at the bottom of the list and they are        made un-selectable until DS button is clicked again.    -   RATING: Indicates how other users rated this particular article.        Rating is a reflection of only those elected to rate the        article.

Clicking the Subject will take you to the individual article screen

-   -   SEND PRI MESSAGE: User can send a private message to another        user, which could be a subscriber or another person. For        subscribers, USERID will be used and for others an email address        will be used to send the message.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 42, the user can scroll up ordown through the this list screen by touching on screen. Also, there canbe a quick access to the top of the list or to the bottom of the list byclicking on T or B button at the top of the screen.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 42, each screen/page in eachfolder can also have a button/link to “i” (information) pages. Click thei button to access more specific information about the page you are at.

FIG. 43 depicts a conceptual diagram 4300 of a screenshot of an exampleof an inbox reply screen shot. Users can reply to the private messagesthat they receive in their INBOX. A user can have the option ofincluding the original article as part of his or her reply message.

FIG. 44 depicts a conceptual diagram 4400 of a screenshot of an exampleof a inbox forward screen shot. Users can forward the private messagesthat they receive in their INBOX to others, who are registered users orto non-registered users through their email address.

FIG. 45 depicts a conceptual diagram 4500 of a screenshot of an exampleof a personal folders sentbox list screen shot. List of private messagescan be sent to other users.

FIG. 46 depicts a conceptual diagram 4600 of a screenshot of an exampleof a personal sentbox subject screen shot. Users can use this screen toview and forward the individual articles.

FIG. 47 depicts a conceptual diagram 4700 of a screenshot of an exampleof a personal inbox subject screen shot. This page can be similar to theCategory Article Screen. At top of the screen you find Theme, PersonalCategory and Article names. It will also designate if the category isMPRI indicating private and created by you, MPUB indicating public andcreated by you, and PRI indicating public and was created by anotheruser which you have been invited. The arrows at the top are fornavigating back to the Personal Inbox List Screen or to the SHARE page.Using Share will allow you to send the article to another person usingemail, text message, share it with facebook or twitter.

Here are brief description for each column:

-   -   ID: This is a unique number for the article which can be used        for searching or reporting purposes.    -   DATE/TIME: Indicates the creation date and time for the Article.    -   RANK: Rank 1 indicates the number one (highest) ranked article.    -   FROM: User who posted the message.    -   SUBJECT: Article name or Subject of the article.    -   RATE USER: You can rate the user who posted this article    -   FOLLOW USER: You can set alert to follow the user who posted        this article for all categories that will be posted by this user        or for a specific category.

Below the Article, you will find a Next and Previous navigationalbuttons. Next button will display the next article in the Personal InboxList Screen, where as Previous button will display the previous articlein the Personal Inbox List Screen.

The message screen will display messages regarding user actions. Forexample when article was added to the favorite or marked as DS, etc. Themessage screen is followed by the following buttons;

-   -   ADD TO FAVORITES (Article)—User is allowed to select a Category        from a list or create a new custom category in the FAVORITE        folder. Only the ARTICLE selected goes to the FAVORITE folder.        Status of the article is changed to F.

DON'T SHOW—Will mark the article as DS and will put it at the bottom ofthe articles in the Category List. An article may be marked as DS (don'tshow) but still stays in the list. However, those articles are madeun-selectable until DS button is clicked again.

-   -   REPLY/POST—Will take you to the Reply/Post page.    -   FORWARD—will take you to the Forward page.    -   MARK READ button changes the status of the article READ, and        de-highlights the article in the list, and MARK READ turns into        MARK UNREAD. Clicking the MARK UNREAD button, changes the status        of the article to NOT READ (NR), highlights the article in the        list, and MARK UNREAD turns into MARK READ button. Basically        switching back and forth every time it is clicked.    -   FULL PAGE button enlarges the view of the article page.        Navigation to Category List screen and SHARE screen, as well as        the RATE ART buttons are eliminated to make room for larger        article display area. Clicking the BACK TO FIT PAGE will take        user to the original article display mode (See Figure S3K).

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 47, each screen/page in eachfolder also has a button/link to i (information) pages. Click the ibutton to access more specific information about the page you are at.

FIG. 48 depicts a conceptual diagram 4800 of a screenshot of an exampleof an inbox send PRI message screen shot. The PRI message can be sent toanother subscriber using their USERID, and/or using an email address. InLIST BUILDER user can create a LIST made up of USERIDs or EMAILS,separated by comma. This LIST then can be used along with additionalUSERID and eMails to send the Private message. Multiple USERID andEMails can be entered separated by comma. The email can go to people whoare not yet subscribers. This emailed people get the private message, aswell as information about the Application. User can use the pulldownmenu to select the LIST, or start typing and matching list of LISTs willbe displayed for user to select. When a LIST is selected, USERIDs orEMAILS show up in the USERID LIST box on left. User may alter this bydeleting or adding USERIDs or EMAILS and click on SAVE. Cut & Paste inthis box is allowed. LIST name also can be deleted by clicking on DELETEbutton. The LIST created here can be shared among all the other screensutilizing the LIST BUILDER

-   -   LIST NAME: Select a LIST NAME using pull-down menu for sending        the private message    -   USERID: Enter USERIDs separated by comma    -   EMAIL: Enter EMAIL addresses separated by comma    -   PRI SENT BOX: Default is YES, meaning a copy of the PRI message        will be kept in SENT BOX. If NO is selected, no copy will be        kept. Enter subject and message, and click SEND. Each        screen/page in each folder also has a button/link to i        (information) pages. Click the i button to access more specific        information about the page you are at.

FIG. 49 depicts a conceptual diagram 4900 of a screenshot of an exampleof a personal folder notebox list screen shot. The structure of theNOTEBOX Articles list screen is similar to the list screen ofCategories, where the main navigational buttons for CATEGORIES (C), TOPARTICLES (T), FAVORITES (F), PERSONAL (P) and SEARCH (S) folders arefound at the bottom of the screen. At top of the screen you find Themename. The arrows at the top are used for navigating back to the PERSONALCATEGORIES page or to the SETTING page.

Each column is sortable both ways numerically or alphabetically, high tolow or low to high. Here are brief description for each column:

-   -   DATE: Indicates the creation date for the Note.    -   FROM: User who created the Note. This information will be used        if user decides to send this note as a private message to        another user.    -   SUBJECT: Article name or Subject of the article. Clicking the        Subject will take you to the individual note page    -   DELETE NOTE—Select a note by clicking on the Check Box on left        side of the Note, and then click DELETE NOTE button to delete.    -   ADD NEW NOTE: Clicking this button will take user to the NOTEBOX        Article Screen to enable user to enter text and save the new        note.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 49, a user can scroll up ordown through the list screen by a user interface element, such astouching on a touch screen. Also, there is a quick access to the top ofthe list or to the bottom of the list by clicking on T or button at thetop of the screen.

Each screen/page in each folder also has a button/link to “i”(information) pages. Click the button to access more specificinformation about the page you are at.

FIG. 50 depicts a conceptual diagram 5000 of a screenshot of an exampleof a personal notebox subject screen shot. This page is very similar tothe Category Article Screen. At top of the screen you find Theme,Personal Category and Note/article names.

The arrows at the top are for navigating back to the Personal Inbox ListScreen or to the SHARE page. Using Share will allow you to send thearticle to another person using email, text message, share it withsocial networks such as Facebook or Twitter.

Here are brief description for each column:

-   -   ID: This is a unique number for the note/article which can be        used for searching or reporting purposes.    -   DATE/TIME: Indicates the creation date and time for the        Note/Article.    -   FROM: User who created the note/article.    -   SUBJECT: Article name or Subject of the article.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 50, below the Article, a usercan find Next and Previous navigational buttons. The next button willdisplay the next note/article in the Notebox List Screen, where asPrevious button will display the previous note/article in the NoteboxList Screen.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 50, the Notebox where thetext is entered will either be blank if user click on the ADD NEW NOTEbutton on the Notebox List Screen, or will have the text of the note ifuser clicked on the Subject of the not on the Notebox List Screen.

In the screen shown in the example of FIG. 50, the message screen willdisplay messages regarding user actions. For example when article wasadded to the favorite or marked as DS, etc. The message screen can befollowed by the following buttons;

-   -   EDIT NOTE—will take user to the edit mode so that note can be        edited.    -   SAVE NOTE—will save the note.    -   ADD NEW NOTE: Clicking this button will create a blank Notebox        and put user to the edit mode so that new text can be entered.    -   SEND PRI MESSAGE: User can send a private message to another        user, which could be a subscriber or another person. For        subscribers, USERID will be used and for others an email address        will be used to send the message. The message in the Notebox        will be copied over to the PRI Message box.    -   MARK READ button changes the status of the article READ, and        de-highlights the article in the list, and MARK READ turns into        MARK UNREAD. Clicking the MARK

UNREAD button, changes the status of the article to NOT READ (NR),highlights the article in the list, and MARK UNREAD turns into MARK READbutton. Basically switching back and forth every time it is clicked.

-   -   FULL PAGE button enlarges the view of the article page.        Navigation to Category List screen and SHARE screen, as well as        the RATE ART buttons are eliminated to make room for larger        article display area. Clicking the BACK TO FIT PAGE will take        user to the original article display mode (See Figure S3K).

Each screen/page in each folder also has a button/link to “i”(information) pages. Click the i button to access more specificinformation about the page you are at.

Returning to the example of FIG. 27, the flowchart 2700 continues tomodule 2732 where search main page is displayed. Because the example ofFIG. 7 includes only 5 main page choices, Categories, Top Articles,Favorites, Personal, and Search, at this point the only remaining optionis the search main page option. FIG. 51 depicts a conceptual diagram5100 of a screenshot of an example of a search main page screen shot.User can save and reuse previous search settings. To save, type a searchname and click the SAVE SEARCH button. To reuse, click the pulldown menuand select a saved search. User can search Categories, Articles, Usersor Sponsors. Select one of the options CAT, ART, USER or SPON using thepull-down menu. Users can also perform search on the current page thatthey came from or search all content pages within the Theme. Categorycan be searched using a keyword. Category search results displayed usinga screen similar to the Category Main Screen. Article search can be doneusing an article ID number or using a keyword. See Figure S8B forarticles search screen. User search can be accomplished using the USERIDor a keyword. The results of user search is show in Figure S8C.Furthermore, user can click on any of the matching USERID on page andlook for more detail information about the user. See Figure S8D userpage screen. Similarly, user can search for a SPONSOR using their USERIDor with a keyword. See Figure S8E sponsor search page. ALL is a defaultselection for all the options—RATING, CLASS, STATUS, TYPE, SCOPE andRANKING. Note that CLASS, TYPE and SCOPE apply to Categories only,STATUS applies to Articles only. RANKING and RATING are used for allsearch, including Category, Article, User, and Sponsor. For TYPE option,user can select either ALL or one of the items provided in the pulldownlist. For RANKING and RATING user also has only one option to select.For CLASS, STATUS, TYPE and SCOPE user can make multiple selections byclicking on them and highlighting them. Once the proper selections aremade, user can enter one or more KEYWORDS to setup the search beforeclicking SEARCH button. If user is searching an article, entering thearticle ID is sufficient for searching without selecting any specialoptions. Each screen/page in each folder also has a button/link to(information) pages. Click the i button to access more specificinformation about the page you are at.

In the example of FIG. 27, the flowchart 2700 continues to decisionpoint 2734 wherein it is determined whether a search is to be conductedfor articles. If it is determined that a search is to be conducted forarticles (2734-Y), then the flowchart 2700 continues to module 2736where an articles search results page is displayed. FIG. 52 depicts aconceptual diagram 5200 of a screenshot of an example of an articlessearch results page.

-   -   DATE: Indicates the creation date for the Article.    -   RANK: Rank 1 indicates the number one (highest) ranked article.    -   FROM: User who posted the message.    -   CAT: Category name    -   CLASS: NP, PUB (or MPUB), PRI (or MPRI), SPO    -   STATUS: Article status indicates one of the followings;    -   N—New—New article, meaning new since last access to the        application. Those that were New before and not read yet will        change its status to NR.    -   NR—Not Read—Article has Not been Read yet    -   R—Read—Article was Read    -   F—Favorite—Article marked as Favored    -   DS—Don't Show—Article marked as Don't Show. An article may be        marked as DS (don't show) but still stays in the list. However,        those with DS are put at the bottom of the list and they are        made not selectable until DS button is clicked again.    -   CATEGORY TYPE: Instructional, Informational, Review/Analysis,        Profile, Inspirational, Research, Opinion, Resource List, Tips,        Advice, Best of List, Humor, Tutorial, interview, Survey, etc.        (INSTRU, INFORM, REVIEW, PROFIL, INSPIRA, RESEAR, OPINION,        RESOULT, TIPS, ADVICE, BESTLT, HUMOR, TUTOR, INTERV, SURVEY)    -   CATEGORY SCOPE: International (INT), National (NAT), State        (STA), City (CITY)    -   RATING: Indicates how other users rated this particular article.        Rating is a reflection of only those elected to rate the        article.    -   ID: This is a unique number for the article which can be used        for searching or reporting purposes.    -   SUBJECT: Article name or Subject of the article.

User also can select either one line or two line display of the resultsfor this screen. User can scroll up or down through the this list screenby touching on screen. Also, there is a quick access to the top of thelist or to the bottom of the list by clicking on T or B button at thetop of the screen.

Each screen/page in each folder also has a button/link to i(information) pages. Click the i button to access more specificinformation about the page you are at.

In the example of FIG. 27, if it is determined that the search is notfor articles (2734-N), then the flowchart 2700 continues to decisionpoint 2738 where it is determined whether a search is to be conductedfor users. If it is determined that a search is to be conducted forarticles (2738-Y), then the flowchart 2700 continues to module 2740where a users search results page is displayed. FIG. 53 depicts aconceptual diagram 5300 of a screenshot of an example of a users searchresults page.

-   -   USERID: User IDs    -   RATING: Indicates how other users rated this particular author.        Rating is a reflection of only those elected to rate the author.    -   # OF POSTS: Number of total postings made by the user to        different categories.    -   # OF PUB: Number of Public categories authored by the user.    -   # OF PRI: Number of Private categories authored by the user.    -   TOP NP CATS: Top Non-Personal (created by company) categories        followed by the user. Top means most actively participated by        the user.    -   TOP PUB CATS: Top Public (created by users) categories followed        by the user. Top means most actively participated by the user.    -   # OF FOLLOWERS: Number of users following the author.

When clicked on the USERID, the User Personal Page is displayed withmore information about the user. FIG. 54 depicts a conceptual diagram5400 of a screenshot of an example of a user personal page.

In the example of FIG. 27, if it is determined that the search is notfor users (2738-N), then the flowchart 2700 continues to module 2742where a sponsors search results page is displayed. In this example, onlythree examples of search categories are presented, articles, users, andsponsors. Because at this point it has been determined that the searchis not for articles or users, it is assumed that the search is forsponsors. FIG. 55 depicts a conceptual diagram 5500 of a screenshot ofan example of a sponsors search results page.

-   -   USERID: Any sponsor will be represented by one USERID.    -   RANKING: For a Theme, ranking indicates the average ranking of        all the categories in that theme. For a Category, it represents        the ranking for that category. These are basically reflection on        the sponsor.    -   RATING: For a Theme, rating indicates the average rating of all        the categories in that theme. For a Category, it represents the        rating for that category. These are basically reflection on the        sponsor.    -   THEMES: A sponsor can sponsor one or more Themes and all the        categories within a Theme.    -   CATS: A sponsor can sponsor one or more Categories under a        Public Theme.    -   # OF FOLLOWS: Number of followers of a sponsored Theme with all        the categories, or in a sponsored single Category in a Public        Theme.    -   # OF USERS: Number of users of a sponsored Theme with all the        categories, or in a sponsored single Category in a Public Theme.    -   DS: As a default, all sponsors are included in the list.        Meaning, if user accept advertisements, user may receive ads        from any of the sponsors. If user do not want to receive any        advertisements from a sponsor, user can click on DS for that        sponsor.

User can click on SPONSOR NAME or USERID to access the User Page formore information about the sponsor and the user representing thesponsor. Also, user can click on THEME to get more information about theTheme as well.

The contents of a trust folder can be considered implementation- and/orconfiguration-specific. FIG. 56 depicts a conceptual diagram 5600intended to illustrate some examples of personal folder contents, whichcan include trust folders. Private messages from other members arestored in INBOX. Private messages to other members are stored in OUTBOX.Private messages sent to other members are stored in SENTBOX. Notes arestored in NOTEBOX. Activities (like post, reply, etc.) related toreceiving credit for social network activity are stored in CREDITBOX.Settings for alerts are stored in ALERTBOX. Postings, replies andforwards by the member are stored in POSTBOX. Ratings are stored inRATEBOX. Shared content is stored in SHAREBOX. Text messages are storedin TEXTMBOX. Temporary content is stored in TEMPBOX. READBOX can containURL links to articles or text documents for future reading or reference.MPRI is a category of trust folder. MPUB is a category of trust folderthat is open to the public. PRI is private categories to which themember has been invited.

FIG. 57 shows a conceptual diagram 5700 intended to illustrate someexamples of a system incorporating one or more trusted social networks.A user can interface with the trusted social network system using a webbrowser. The web browser can, using a network connection such as WiFi,xG, or the Internet, connect the user to one or more devices.

In the example shown in FIG. 57, the devices can comprise a computerrunning apps, a electronic device running apps, or a smart phone runningapps. Any of the computer, the electronic device, and the smart phonecan link the user to a CATEGORIES page. The CATEGORIES page can, in turnlink the user to a specific category, shown in FIG. 57 as exemplaryCATEGORY1. The CATEGORY1 can link the user to a specific subject page,shown in FIG. 57 as exemplary CATEGORY1: SUBJECT 1.

In the example shown in FIG. 57, a network connection such as WiFi, xG,or the Internet, can connect the users to a Private corporate theme. ThePrivate corporate theme is shown incorporating first “private themes &categories,” “public themes & categories,” “personal folders,” andsecond “private themes and categories.”

In the example shown in FIG. 57, a network connection (shown as theInternet) can connect the Private corporate theme to publicly accessiblecorporate accounts, such as “corporate customer accounts,” and corporatesocial networks, such as “corporate Facebook accounts,” and “corporateTwitter accounts.”

In the example shown in FIG. 57, a network connection such as a LANand/or WAN can connect the Private corporate theme to corporate sourcesthat can be privately accessible. Exemplary corporate sources include:corporate blogs, corporate news, products, services, support, and othercorporate sources.

In the example shown in FIG. 57, a network connection such as a LANand/or WAN can connect the Private corporate theme to corporatedepartments that can be privately accessible. Exemplary corporatedepartments include: a human resources (HR) department, engineering, orother departments.

In the example shown in FIG. 57, a network connection such as a LANand/or WAN can connect the Private corporate theme to corporate teamsthat can be privately accessible. Exemplary corporate teams include:engineering teams, marketing teams, and other teams.

In the example shown in FIG. 57, a network connection such as a LANand/or WAN can connect the Private corporate theme to corporate messagesthat can be privately accessible. Exemplary corporate messages include:CEO messages, marketing messages, and other corporate messages.

The detailed description discloses examples and techniques, but it willbe appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art that modifications,permutations, and equivalents thereof are within the scope of theteachings. It is therefore intended that the following appended claimsinclude all such modifications, permutations, and equivalents. Whilecertain aspects of the invention are presented below in certain claimforms, the applicant contemplates the various aspects of the inventionin any number of claim forms. For example, while only one aspect of theinvention is recited as a means-plus-function claim under 35 U.S.C. sec.112, sixth paragraph, other aspects may likewise be embodied as ameans-plus-function claim, or in other forms, such as being embodied ina computer-readable medium. (Any claims intended to be treated under 35U.S.C. §112, ¶6 will begin with the words “means for”, but use of theterm “for” in any other context is not intended to invoke treatmentunder 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6.) Accordingly, the applicant reserves the rightto add additional claims after filing the application to pursue suchadditional claim forms for other aspects of the invention.

APPENDIX

General Navigation

For a given Theme, data organized and accessed, for example, throughfive main Folders:

-   -   C—CATEGORY—List of categories in the theme    -   T—TOP USA—List of top ranked users (U), sponsors (S) and        articles (A)    -   F—FAVORITES—List of categories and articles designated a        favorite    -   P—PERSONAL—List of public and private categories created by you        and your inbox    -   S—SEARCH—For searching categories, articles or users

At the bottom of each screen you will have an option to select any oneof them, (C,T,F,P,S), and the selected one will be kept highlighted.

In addition, for each main Folder, there may be three screens forviewing data;

-   -   M—MAIN SCREEN—List of categories in the theme. This is the        default screen for all folders, except Top Articles folder.        Clicking on any of the categories listed on this main screen        takes you to the list screen.    -   L—LIST SCREEN—List of articles in a category. This is the        default screen for Top Articles folder. Clicking on any of the        articles listed on this list screen takes you to the article        screen.    -   A—ARTICLE SCREEN—Article view where you can share, reply, post,        etc.

User can scrolls up or down through the Main, List and Article Screensthrough either by using a scroll bar or by touching on screen (insupported electronic hardware devices). Also, there is a quick access tothe top of the list or to the bottom of the list by clicking on T or Bat the top of the screen.

Each screen in each folder also has a button/link to i (information)screens. Click the i button to access more specific information aboutthe screen you are at.

Electronic hardware device can be portable or non-portable. In thisdocument, some examples are given using a portable electronic device,for example, i Phone.

Display Description

1. Each screen may be different. However there are commonalities betweenthe screens with specific navigation and display capabilities. See aSample Screen in Figure S11.

2. Each screen/page in each folder also has a link to i (information)pages.

3. When new Theme is subscribed, allow settings for that new Theme aswell

4. When new Theme is subscribed, give credit to the user for thatsubscription

5. STATUS: NEW, NOT-READ, READ, FAVORITE, DONT-SHOW; N and NR should behighlighted until they are R.

6. CLASS: NOT-PERSONAL/NP, PRIVATE/PRI, or PUBLIC/PUB. NP is created bythe system, whereas PRI and PUB created by the users. Any user canaccess to NP or PUB. However, only invited users have access to PRI.

7. All columns on all screens/pages are sortable.

8. An article is put into a FAVORITE folder, it is basically marked as F

9. An article may be marked as DS (don't show) but still stays in thelist. However, those with DS are put at the bottom of the list and theyare made un-selectable until DS button is clicked again.

10. After going to SHARE or ADD TO FAVORITE screens, and after clickingDONE button on these pages, user should be able to go back to where theyclicked those buttons.

11. in all screens, HOME means the Main Folder page as setup in theSETTINGS

12. the START PAGE is the one that gives user to select differentThemes. START PAGE can be access from the MAIN PAGE of C, T, F, P

13. The theme name is always displayed at the top and it is a clickablebutton to access to the start page that displays subscribed and otherthemes that can be subscribed.

14. Category name is displayed below the theme, and article name isdisplayed next to category name, always in that order.

15. on Main screen the theme is displayed and below that is the name ofthe navigational box selected. If categories box was selected, then“category” be displayed below. If favorites box selected, then“favorites” should be below the theme name.

16. on List screen, display theme name, and below display the specificselected category name. Below should be the class, type, and scope ofthe category. Article screens starts similar to list screens. However,there are some exceptions on personal folder when displaying for exampleinbox.

17. At the bottom, for most screens the main navigation box should bedisplayed for selecting five different folders; Category, Top USA(Users/SponsorsArticles), Favorites, Personal, and Search. Clicking anyof these buttons highlights that folder and take user to the Mainscreen, except for Top Articles, where user should be taken to the Listscreen.

18. For Main and List screens, there are two navigational arrows at thetop, one on right and one on left. The arrow on left typically takesuser back to the previous page. For example, from Article, user goesback to the List screen, and from List screen back to the Main screen.The arrow on right is takes user from Main and List screens to theSettings screen. On Article screen, it takes user to the Share screen.

19. For Article screen, there are two navigational arrows at the bottom,Next and Previous, which takes users to next and previous Articles. Inaddition many screens have a message box where appropriate messages aredisplayed. Message box is also shared as a text entry for Findoperations to search keywords in current page.

20. All data display pages have scrolling capability. However, allbuttons/arrows/links at the top and bottom should always be accessibleto the user. For all scrollable pages there should be buttons at the toplabeled T (top) and B (bottom) to access to the top or bottom of thescrollable page quickly.

21. Each screen has a button on top right, i (information) to accessmore information about that screen. Closing this information screenbrings user back to the screen that user clicked on the button i. Ininfo page user can also perform search based on key words.

22. On all List screens where articles in a category are listed, thereshould be button to rate the category and to see the ratings by otherusers. On this List screen, user should also be able set an alert tofollow the category.

23. On all Article screens, there should be a button to rate the articleand to see the rating of the article by other users. On this articlescreen, user should also be able to rate a user and set an alert tofollow a user.

24. All Main and List page columns should be sortable, two ways, newestto oldest and high to low are default. Clicking on column sorts it theopposite way.

25. Following columns are clickable on all pages; USERID or FROM,CATEGORY name, SUBJECT name.

26. AF button stands for add to favorite and DS stands for don't show,valid for Categories or Articles. Adding to favorite means we mark theoriginal article as F, not making a copy of the original article. Don'tshow for Categories means the category is marked as DS, and it shouldstill show on the category list but should be de-highlighted such thatuser cannot click on it. To click on a category that was marked DA, userfirst has to click on DS to turn DS off. When a category is in DSstatus, it should not be synced with the system and it should retainit's content before user selected the DS status. When an article ismarked as DS, the article name should be de-highlighted and cannot beselected until user clicks on DS again.

27. Display on portable electronic hardware devices should support bothportrait/vertical and landscape/horizontal display modes

28. user should be able REDUCE/INCREASE FONT size works one size at atime

29. user should be able to REVERSE FONT COLOR—goes from whitebackground—black font to black background—white font

30. Text and buttons should be implemented such that they can supportFont size and color changes.

31. on portable electronic hardware devices, MAIN/LIST PAGES: FULLSCREEN—if currently in Portrait mode, it changes into Landscape andadjust the font size if necessary, and if in Landscape mode, it stays inthat mode but adjust font size. In both cases displays all columns.

32. on portable electronic hardware devices, MAIN/LIST PAGES: FITSCREEN—if currently in Portrait mode and if the columns do not fit intothe screen using the current font size, TYPE and SCOPE columns areeliminated in display to make the fit and if necessary font size isadjusted, if currently in Landscape mode, all columns are displayed andfont size is adjusted automatically if needed to fit into the screen. Nocolumn elimination is done.

33. on ARTICLE PAGE: FULL PAGE—enlarges the article page to full screen

34. on ARTICLE PAGE: FIT PAGE—brings the article page to original size

35. all screens, there should be a way to go back to the screen wherethe user came from (back button, close button, etc.)

36. user should be able to access Pulldown menu to select differentdisplay options. For example, user should be able to change font sizesusing pulldown and change font and background color using pulldown

37. title section at the top for Theme/Category/Article names(fixed/non-scrollable)

38. New (N) CAT/ART and NR CAT/ART are always highlighted, until theybecome F, DS, or R (Read)

39. CATEGORY/LIST PAGE: Data presentation using columns in the middlethat is scrollable

40. CATEGORY/LIST PAGE: If the data does not fit into screen, it canexpand to the right so that it can be scrollable to the right, ordisplay changes to landscape/horizontal to show all columns. User shouldalso have an option to display limited data such that the data displayedfits into the regular screen without scrolling. This can be accomplishedby SHOW ALL, FIT SCREEN buttons/pulldown menu.

41. ARTICLE PAGE: Data presentation using a regular text page in themiddle that is scrollable

42. titles on each column should be highlighted (fixed/non-scrollable)

43. the main navigation on the screen is through arrows at the top andfolder buttons at the bottom (fixed/non-scrollable)

44. navigation is also achieved through

1. clickable special buttons like RATE CAT, FOLLOW CAT, RATE ART, etc.(fixed/non-scrollable)

2. check boxes like AF, DS, or AF/DS buttons, etc. scrollable

3. clickable links such as Theme name, Category name, Subject name, username in data columns

45. for ARTICLE PAGE: navigation is achieved through NEXT and PREVIOUSarticle buttons

46. default buttons/selections should always be highlighted in differentcolor/shade

47. User can enter and search keywords on a page using a Find function,(<=, =>)

48. user can Scroll on a text page using a scroll bar on a side

49. Message box on a screen displays messages to user (this box isshared between message box and Find function)

50. after each sort of columns by the user, system remembers the lastone and display data using that sort until it is changed by the users

51. similarly, system remembers the last selection through the Displaypulldown menu until it is changed by the user

52. PERSONAL MAIN SCREEN

1. All PRI categories (PRI/MPRI) are displayed in PERSONAL FOLDER

2. MPUB categories displayed in both PERSONAL FOLDER and CATEGORY FOLDER

3. No PUB category is displayed in PERSONAL FOLDER

4. No PRI category is displayed in CATEGORY FOLDER

5. Clicking on a category opens up a screen similar to the CATEGORY LISTscreen

6. Then, clicking an article opens up a screen similar to the CATEGORYARTICLE.

7. Clicking on a personal message in INBOX opens up a screen same as theCATEGORY ARTICLE.

Electronic hardware device can be portable or non-portable. In thisdocument, some examples are given using a portable electronic device,for example, i Phone.

How CAT/ART Goes from N to R Status

1. if CAT with a Status N Opened by iphone User>## sec (some constanttime)

1. Then, Change CAT Status from N to R

2. if ART with a Status N Opened by iphone User>## sec (based on anequation using the number of words in the article)

1. Then, Change ART Status from N to R

How Timer is Used to Track Usage

1. Every time a THEME is Opened, start THEME timer

1. Every time a THEME is Exited, stop the THEME timer, and record

2. Every time a CAT is Opened, start CAT timer

1. Every time a CAT is Exited, stop the CAT timer, and record

3. Every time a ART is Opened, start ART timer

1. Every time a ART is Exited, stop the ART timer, and record

4. Every time user clicks on CATEGORIES folder, start CATEGORIES timer,and sop any other folder timer and record

5. Every time user clicks on TOP USA folder, start TOP USA timer, andsop any other folder timer and record

6. Every time user clicks on FAVORITES folder, start FAVORITES timer,and sop any other folder timer and record

7. Every time user clicks on PERSONAL folder, start PERSONAL timer, andsop any other folder timer and record

8. Every time user clicks on SEARCH folder, start SEARCH timer, and sopany other folder timer and record

How Users are Selected which Sponsor Message to Receive

1. sponsors can send private message once a day per CATEGORY that theyare sponsoring. Each category can have maximum of 1 sponsor.

1. to those user who agree to receive private messages from sponsors, or

2. to those users who have not blocked the sponsor sending a message byselecting DS for that particular sponsor, or

3. to those users who have selected sponsor as AF (favorite)

4. then use the following rule (top categories calculated daily);

1. if user agreed to receive 3 private sponsor messages

1. and if the sponsor category is one of the top 3 categories that theuser is participating

2. if user agreed to receive 5 private sponsor messages

1. and if the sponsor category is one of the top 5 categories that theuser is participating

3. if user agreed to receive 10 private sponsor messages

1. and if the sponsor category is one of the top 10 categories that theuser is participating

2. if user is a SPONSOR, then user is enabled to select a user listnamed SPONSORLIST_CATID on PRI MESSAGE screen (Figure S7C), whichcontains list of user who have agreed to receive private message fromsponsors, and users who did not block the sponsor by selecting DS forthat particular sponsor. The SPONSORLIST_CATID is valid for theparticular Category that the sponsor is sponsoring. Once the privatemessage using SPONSORLIST is used by the sponsor in a given calendarday, the selection is disabled until next calendar day.

3. sponsor also has the option of posting one sponsor message in theircategory, but no limit on messages as a user. Sponsors will have anoption to indicated if the message that they are posting is theirsponsor message or a message as a general user (see Figure S3H2). Oncesponsor use their sponsor message, then the sponsor message selection isdisabled until the next calendar day.

Summary of an Example Implementation of the Command “ADD NEW CATEGORY”

1. user fills out the form

2. iphone request upload to admin during sync

3. if public, an ID is issued to the NEW category and included withinTheme during sync back to iphone

4. if private, it is added to the Personal folder during sync back toiphone

5. all invited are sent a message to their personal folder INBOX by thesystem

(for subscribers)

6. all invited sent an email message by the system (for non-subscribers)

Add Category Detail Steps:

1. user clicks on category name field

1. user enters category name, as name is entered, which is empty asdefault (user can copy/cut/paste in this text box)

2. iphone program checks for category name rules for validity (forexample all capitalized first letters, limited characters like - and /,and numbers) and provides immediate feedback guiding the user forappropriate characters

3. if number of characters in the category name is more than accepted,provides an immediate feedback

4. if user selects another field other than selecting PRIVATE or PUBLICbuttons, a warning is given to the user one must be selected beforeproceeding.

2. user MUST click on PUBLIC or PRIVATE button, where only one of themis selectable and highlights the selected one (initially neither buttonsare highlighted, but selectable)

1. if user changes the selected one, for example from PRIVATE(highlighted) to PUBLIC (unhighlighted) to PUBLIC (highlighted), thenprogram automatically unhighlight the PRIVATE button.

2. program stays in this routine until a selection is made

1. if user tries to click on any other field on screen, a message isdisplayed to user to request them to make a selection first beforeproceeding.

3. when user selects another field (indicating user is done withentering category name and made the PUBLIC/PRIVATE selection), iphoneprogram checks for category name duplication, if exist provides animmediate feedback

1. if PUBLIC was selected, iphone program calls a routine to connect tothe web system and check system database for the category nameduplication.

1. if category name is duplicate, provide a list of alternative categorynames that may be close to the one entered so that user can select from.

2. if PRIVATE was selected, iphone program checks the iphone database sothat there is no duplication of category name

3. if category name is okay, a check mark is shown next to the name, ifnot an immediate feedback given showing the duplicate name

4. if category name is not okay, a warning is given to the user and thecursor goes to the category name field, and process repeat from step 1.1above.

3. user may create a new list

1. user clicks on “create or update userid . . . ” space, which is emptyas a default (in this box, as in all text boxes, user has the ability tocopy/cut/paste, etc.)

1. program turns “delete” button off/un-selectable and “save” buttonon/selectable

2. user enters userids separated by comma

3. iphone program checks for userid name rules for validity (for exampleall capital letters, limited characters like - and /, and numbers, andnumber of min/max characters in a userid), checks for comma separatinguserids and provides feedback immediately

4. iphone program checks for valid email (like @ sign, .com/.net, etc.)and provides feedback immediately

2. user enters a new list name

1. user enters a list name, which is empty as a default

2. iphone program checks for valid list name (like number of characters,duplicate names, etc.) and provides immediate feedback

3. user clicks on save and iphone program calls a routine to connect tothe web system and check system database for the userid name exist andcorrect.

1. if any userid is not correct, provide a list of userids that may beclose to the one entered so that user can select from.

4. if user clicks on any other button, iphone program warns user to savetheir list, but provide an option to save or cancel the creation oflist.

4. user may update or delete a list

1. user clicks on pulldown menu to select a name from the list, which isempty as a default

2. when a list name is selected, all the userids and emails saved inthis list are displayed on the “create or update userid . . . ” box

3. user may click on “delete” button, in that case a message isdisplayed to confirm that list will be deleted. Once it is confirmed,list is deleted and an empty list box is displayed. Here user may go tostep 3 or 4 above.

4. user may update the list by clicking on the “create or update userid. . . ” box.

1. user may delete userid or email from the list

2. user may add a userid or email (procedure is same as step 3 above.

3. if user clicks on any other button, iphone program warns user to savetheir list, but provide an option to save or cancel the updating thelist.

5. user selects a list using pulldown, or enter one or more userid oremail, separated with comma.

1. as userid and email is entered, iphone program checks if they arevalid as described before

6. Category name is shown in the invitation message (a check mark nextto the name indicates it has been validated)

7. user enters message to the message box

8. user clicks “done” button,

1. all data is verified and saved in iphone database, we create a queues(for email and userids) in iphone to send the message to all invitedpeople

2. if category name and userids have been verified and correct,

1. email que information is passed to the web system immediately throughsync, and through web system, message goes to their email address, (weuse special templates with additional information and link about theapplication to these users for them to subscribe to the application)

2. userid queue information is passed to the web system immediatelythrough sync, and through web system message goes to iphone applicationinbox of users (we use special template for this purpose, where userwill have the option to accept or decline the invitation)

3. screen is closed

9. user can click the “cancel” button any time to cancel the creation ofthe new category. User is displayed a message asking to confirm thatthey would like to cancel. If they click “okay”, the category iscancelled.

Sync Summary

As the portable or non-portable electronic hardware device is used, allactivities related to communication and management of content iscaptured and stored in local database. Then this content is loaded intothe main system database. As content, activities, statistics, etc. arecollected and aggregated, it is then distributed back to the user'selectronic hardware device. This process of uploading data from userelectronic hardware device to the system database and back downloadingto the user electronic hardware device is described here issynchronization (sync).

Electronic hardware device can be portable or non-portable. In thisdocument, sync process summary is given using a portable electronicdevice, for example, iPhone. See also FIG. 4 for an example sync processusing iPhone.

-   -   sync can be initiated when the APPS (application software) is        opened, periodically by iphone, and/or manually initiated by the        iphone user    -   iphone to web; (manually by user or auto)    -   sync starts auto when the application software is opened    -   sync starts auto periodically based on timer set in SETTINGS    -   sync starts manually, for example based on user clicking SYNC        DATA NOW button    -   sync starts automatically after there is a specific user action,        like;    -   post/reply/forward CAT/ART, send PRI message, share, tell,        refer, suggest, report    -   web to iphone; (by Admin/system)    -   I want data    -   I have data    -   I want to stop sync    -   I want to erase data    -   I want to restore data    -   I want to check Local Time    -   I want to check location    -   I want to change email    -   I want to change password, etc.    -   after transfer of data in both ways, there are other tasks run,        or initiated by the sync, before exiting in, for example;    -   in iphone: initiate change in status of CAT/ART N to NR    -   in system/Web: send/perform tasks like post, reply, share,        email, etc.    -   in system/Web: update statistics like Credits for user before        transferring to iphone

General Sync Rules

-   -   Check if APPS is Open,    -   if YES, Do NOT Sync during APPS is Open    -   Unless, Manually Requested by the iphone USER    -   Unless, Manually Requested by the Admin (for example, in cases        where iphone is stolen and Admin is checking the location, or        erasing data)    -   if NO,    -   First, Sync iphone to Web, AND Update Stats    -   Next, Sync Web to iphone    -   keep track of last sync date/time, and keep track of date/time        when Application was last used. Then,    -   when a new time based automatic sync starts, and if Apps was not        opened since the last sync, then no upload from iphone to web is        needed, and download new category and articles and statistics        from web to iphone.    -   sync web to iphone;    -   Download new Category if system Category ID #>iPhone Category ID        # in a Theme    -   Download new Article if the system Article ID #>iPhone Article        ID # in a Category    -   sync automatically when there is a specific user action, like;    -   post, reply, forward, share, tell, refer, suggest, report, send        PRI message

After Apps Downloaded First Time. During the Sync

-   -   Check user Agreed to USER TERMS    -   Check user filled out email, userid, first and last names    -   Check user email and userid are unique    -   Check if user selected Sponsor and verify with the system    -   Check user's email address and compare it with the emails list        of current user recommend/to Id/invited/etc.    -   if YES, give credit to current user

Some Logic for the Sync

-   -   if APPS Last Close D,T (Date.Time)>Last Sync D,T

(meaning APPS was opened by the user after the last sync with theiphone)

-   -   Then, perform Sync both ways (iphone to Web, and Web to iphone)    -   if APPS Last Close D,T<Last Sync D,T

(meaning APPS was not opened by the user after the last sync withiphone)

-   -   Then perform Sync Web to iphone only.    -   When Exiting APPS, mark APPS Last Close D,T    -   When Current Sync Completes all of its tasks, Update Last Sync        D,T before Exiting

How CAT/ART Goes from N Status to NR Status

-   -   if APPS Last Close D,T (Date.Time)>Last Sync D,T    -   if CAT/ART Status is N, AND    -   if Current Sync D (Date)> OR =Last Sync D+1 (meaning it has been        a calendar day after the last sync, for example like 12:01 AM,        right after midnight and the date has increased by at least one,        for example from 03, Tuesday to 04, Wednesday. NOTE: for this        function to work properly, we need to use the Local Time, and        that means before we do any sync operation, we need to find out        the Local Time. I think this can be done by finding the location        of the user.)    -   Then, CAT/ART Status changes From N to NR (however, CAT/ART        still stays highlighted)

Download Cat and Art from Web to iphone

-   -   For a Theme,    -   if Biggest Web CAT ID #>Biggest iphone CAT ID #,    -   Then, Load CAT to iphone AND Mark it NEW    -   For a CAT,    -   if Biggest Web ART ID #>Biggest iphone ART ID #,    -   Then, Load ART to iphone AND Mark it NEW    -   CAT ID # starts from 1 and increases by 1 every time a new CAT        is added to a Theme    -   ART ID# starts from 1 and increases by 1 every time a new ART is        added to a Category

Some Checks Will be Done

-   -   if MANUAL SYNC is ON in iphone, AND    -   IF Last Sync D>CD-# (# could be any constant like 7, CD is        Current Date),    -   Then send a Warning email to User/Admin/Customer Support        (perhaps the user forgot to turn on the sync or forgot to manual        sync!)    -   if Last APPS Close D>CD-7

Then send a Warning email to User/Admin/Customer Support (perhaps userneeds help to get going!)

Some Comments on Implementation of Sync

sync structure may be implemented using queues;

-   -   data stored in queue in iphone for each data to be stored in web    -   sync program passes/extracts data from queue as FIFO    -   as all data extracted, queue is cleared    -   If user opens the application, during a auto sync (display a        message that a sync is in progress), and    -   complete ALL the sync functions (iphone to web and web to        iphone)    -   in some cases, it is possible to just complete iphone to web and        stop.

Things that Sync Will Need to Transfer from iphone to Web System:

1) Any Change in SETTINGS

1) USER SETTINGS

2) USAGE SETTINGS

3) SPONSOR SETTINGS

once approved user cannot change USERID, EMAIL, FIRST, LAST NAME.

2) Any new Content or Stat

1) READ (ART or CAT)

2) FAVORITE (ART OR CAT)

3) DS (ART or CAT)

4) FOLLOW (USER or CAT)

5) BLOCK USER

6) POST, REPLY, or FORWARD (CAT)

7) SEND PRI MESSAGE (PERSONAL)

8) REPLY or FORWARD (PERSONAL)

9) RATE (CATEGORY, ARTICLE, or USER)

10) SHARE (EMAIL, TEXT MESSAGE, t, f, OR l)

11) TELL, REFER, SUGGEST, REPORT

12) READ SPONSOR MESSAGE (CAT)

13) READ SPONSOR MESSAGE (INBOX)

3) Any new

1) CAT (PUB OR PRI)

2) INVITE

4) Any new Theme SETTINGS

5) Any new Status changes (CAT or ART)

Things that Sync Will Need to Transfer from Web System to iphone:

1) New CAT OR ART

2) CREDITS

3) Stats (Numbers, RATING, or RANKING) (THEME, CAT, ARTICLE, or USER)

4) New or Updated INFO PAGES

5) Program Update

6) PERSONAL Folder Info

7) Special ADMIN Commands

1) Erase (DATA and INFO)

2) Update USER EMAIL or PASSWORD

3) Get Location INFO

Admin general—FIG. 27-39 and FIG. 53.

FIG. 27 shows the conceptual hierarchy of the data for categories andarticles and type of data/information being stored for each category andarticle. Top diagram is the main menu that may be available to admin forinterface. Below that are the category and article representations.

ADMIN screens (FIG. 28 through FIG. 39) describes the generalfunctionality and user interface for administrative work. This is wherecontent and user related work is controlled by the administrators. Allthe tabs are based on a selected Theme. For most tabs it is possible toselect “ALL” in THEMES pulldown menu, instead of a Specific Theme todisplay information for all themes combined. For many of the columns,the filtering capability enables admin to display ALL or only theselected set of information. In addition filters, keyword searchcapability can be used to locate any information.

PRODUCTION LIST screen (FIG. 28) displays all the articles in productionarea ready to be downloaded to user electronic hardware devices duringtheir next sync. PRODUCTION CATEGORIES screen (FIG. 29) display thecategories in production, however administrator can select a categoryname to see the list of all articles in production within that category.Basically, in Production Categories, admin is looking at the sameinformation as in the Production List, except it is presenteddifferently.

HOLDING STAGE screen (FIG. 30) is where all the articles and categoriesthat were either created by the admin or imported in get ready to bemove into the production stage. Admin can add categories or articles byclicking on ADD ART/CAT button. When it is added by the admin, categorywill have a class NP (none personal), and both article and category willhave their rate and rank set to null, author will designate Admin, anddate/time will reflect the date/time that the article or category wasadded by the admin. Admin also can import articles to the holding stageby clicking the IMPORT ARTICLES button, which opens up a dialog box withbrowsing capability to locate the file to be imported. A common format,like comma delimited text file can be used for the importing ofarticles. Creation date and time are also expected to be imported alongwith the content. When an article or category created by a user, theywill also have null rating and ranking information. However, thecreation date and time will reflect the actual date time that they werecreated by the user in their electronic hardware device. When MOVE TOPRODUCTION button is clicked, all the articles selected will be movedinto production. When moving to production stage, all categories andarticles will be assigned an ID automatically by the system based ontheir creation date and time. IDs will be generated in increments of onefrom the last category or article that was already in production. Oncethe articles and categories are moved to production stage, they areremoved from the holding stage. Note that when an article or category isdeleted, they go into “deleted” status, but are not removed from thelist. However, those deleted cannot be moved into the production stage.Admin can also edit any category or article information by clicking onthe ARTICLE NAME or CATEGORY NAME.

SUBMIT STAGE screen (FIG. 31) shows all the articles and categoriessubmitted by users that requires admin attention. Here, number of checksperformed by the administrator, before moving them to the holding stage.

Typically, an article submitted by the user will be copied from the userelectronic hardware device to the system database. Then, afterprocessing by the system, the article may be included in the SubmitStage or in the Production Stage (See FIG. 52). Here is control logicbehind processing the articles;

1. NEW ARTICLE: if user is “okay” box is checked, article has nooffensive words, article is moved into the PRODUCTION STAGEautomatically with no changes.

2. NEW ARTICLE: if user is “okay” box is checked, but articles has 1 or2 minor offensive words, offensive words are modified or deletedautomatically by the system using an OFFENSIVE WORD library, and articleis moved into the PRODUCTION STAGE, a warning message goes to user inboxfor the use of offensive words. If user had three articles withoffensive words, the user is “okay” box is automatically unchecked bythe system. Accept/Reject column indicates if the articles was acceptedor rejected. Otherwise this column shows a question mark, indicating itrequires admin attention.

3. NEW ARTICLE: if user is “okay” box is checked, but article has morethan 2 offensive words or any non-minor offensive words, article ismoved into the SUBMIT STAGE. Admin may replace offensive words using theOFFENSIVE WORD library and move article to PRODUCTION STAGE, or rejectthe article and send a message to the user inbox with a warning. If userhad three articles with offensive words, the user is “okay” box isautomatically unchecked by the system. Accept/Reject column indicates ifthe articles was accepted or rejected. Otherwise this column shows aquestion mark, indicating it requires admin attention.

4. NEW ARTICLE: if user is “okay” box is not checked, article is movedinto the SUBMIT STAGE. After review, if exist, admin may replaceoffensive words using the OFFENSIVE WORD library and move article toPRODUCTION STAGE, or reject the article and send a message to the userinbox with a warning. Accept/Reject column indicates if the articles wasaccepted or rejected. Otherwise this column shows a question mark,indicating it requires admin attention.

Then, in Submit Stage, admin can select the Accepted articles and movethem to production by clicking on the MOVE TO PRODUCTION button.Articles that moved into production stage are removed from the SUBMITSTAGE. Note that moving article to production stage involves creation ofunique ID automatically by the system based on the creation date andtime. Rejected articles or articles that have question mark in theirAccept/Reject column cannot be moved to production until they becomeaccepted.

For handling categories, following control logic is applied:

1. NEW CATEGORY: if the new category is a private one (PRI), category ismoved into the PRODUCTION STAGE automatically with no changes.

2. NEW CATEGORY: if the new category is a sponsored one (SPO) or apublic one (PUB), category is moved into the SUBMIT STAGE with aquestion mark in Accept/Reject column requiring admin attention. Adminchecks the proposed category name by clicking on using CHECK OFFENSIVEWORD button which uses an OFFENSIVE WORD library, and checks forcategory name duplication by clicking on the CHECK DUPLICATE NAMESbutton. In case of offensive word or duplication of names, admin mayreject the proposed category. System also provides a dialog box with alist of categories that has a name that is close to the propose categoryname, as well as those that has similar category type and scope. Ifadmin determines that there is already a category that is similar to theproposed category, admin may reject the proposed category. A message issent to the user indicating that the proposed category has been rejectedwith the reason. If the proposed category is accepted, a message is sentto the user indicating the acceptance of the proposed category. Theaccepted category is then moved into the production stage by clicking onthe MOVE TO PRODUCTION button.

CURRENT USERS Screen (FIG. 32) contains all the user related data forviewing. When needed, admin can make changes in the user data. This isthe screen where Admin can check or uncheck the user okay and sync okayboxes, user okay box is used in article submission process, and syncokay box is used when there are registration or subscription issues withthe user.

Within the Current Users screen, the pulldown menu, SPECIAL CONTROL,enables admin to execute special commands that can be executed duringsync.

Special Control capabilities includes:

-   -   admin can to send messages to any user through their INBOX    -   admin can request download of all user information from iphone    -   admin can request delete of all user information and Personal        folder information    -   admin can request location information    -   admin can restore users last synced information back to iphone    -   admin can change web or iphone users, like from user to sponsor,        etc

POTENTIAL USERS Screen (FIG. 33) contains list of emails and namessubmitted by the current users. Whenever a current user submits firsttime a referral for a user, or told about us to another user, or inviteanother user, message is collected from the electronic hardware deviceby the web services during sync and processed automatically and sent tothose potential users. The original message includes comments by theuser as well as messages and links from the system. The email format isa predetermined template. For follow ups with the potential users, adminmay send additional messages using this Potential User screen.

When the R/T/I (Referred/Told/Invited) column is clicked, the content ofthe message sent is displayed. To edit the R/T/I templates, user selectsthe R or T or I from the R/T/I TEMPLATE (default none or blank) columnand clicks on EDIT TEMPLATE to view and edit the content. Admin can alsocreate a new custom template, name it and send a message to thepotential user using the saved custom template.

After the first automatic system message to the potential user, STATUSshows NEW. After another message is sent to the potential user by theadmin, status is changed to ACTIVE. When a user is registered, systemchecks their name and email against the potential users list. If thereis a match, the original user that submitted the potential user contactinformation gets a credit, and the potential user's status is changed toCONVERTED. In some conditions, admin may delete the potential usercontact information. The contact information actually stays in the list,but the status is changed to DELETED.

CANCELLED USER screen (FIG. 34) display a list of users who havecancelled their registration. This screen is similar to the screen forPOTENTIAL USERS screen with capabilities to send messages to thecancelled users.

INFO PAGES screen (FIG. 35) contains all the info pages for each screenon user electronic hardware device. Info pages are synced withelectronic hardware device every time there is a change in any infopages. This is controlled by the info page version.

All info pages are in reality a single page. However, links are providedfrom every screen to the info page sections such that when a user clickson info button on any screen of the electronic hardware device,appropriate section of the info page is displayed on screen. User canscroll up an down to read that section or any other section in the infopages. Admin can navigate to specific screens of the info pages usingthe navigation provided in this INFO PAGES screen.

When a new screen is created by the programmers, a corresponding infopage appears here on the INFO PAGES tab of ADMIN interface under the NEWPAGES AND OTHER SCREENS columns. Or when a program update was made toany given screen which requires a updated documentation, it shows upunder UPDATED PAGES column. In both cases a flag is set by a program onthese columns, which requires info page to be updated or written.

PROBLEMS AND SUGGESTIONS screen (FIG. 36) contains user feedback. Admininterface is similar to the POTENTIAL USERS screen, where admin canfollow user suggestions and problems and communicate with the users.

REGULAR CONSTANTS screen (FIG. 37) contains all the constants thatdetermine the amount of credit a user will receive based on the actionthat they would take. Admin can make changes to these constants.

SPONSOR CONSTANTS screen (FIG. 38) contains information about thesponsors as well as the additional constants that are used specificallyfor that sponsor, and some general information about the category andusage. Columns are editable and admin can enter new sponsors as neededand save the information. As the sponsor registers to the system throughtheir electronic hardware device, their registration will be checkedagainst the information on the SPONSOR CONSTANT screen to allow certaincapabilities that only sponsors can have.

RELEASE VERSION screen (FIG. 39) contains all the different releaseinformation and a list of fixes for that version for a given theme andfor a specific user electronic hardware device.

SPECIAL SETUP SCREEN (FIG. 53) enables admin to setup accesscapabilities to different users for different screens of the admin userinterface. Any user with access to any admin capabilities will require auserid and a password to access.

Electronic hardware device can be portable or non-portable. In thisdocument, some examples are given using a portable electronic device,for example, i Phone.

Start Page

1.—if a new Theme is subscribed, ask user if;

1.—Personal folder should be shared or create a new one specific to thisTheme

2.—MyPRIList should be shared

3.—Blocked user list should be shared

4.—Follow Userid should be shared

5.—user settings should be shared

6.—usage settings should be shared

Sort Columns

2.—sort alphabetically, numerically, or date, two ways

3.—sort dates from newest to oldest (default) or oldest to newest

4.—sort numbers from high to low (default), or low to high

5.—sort alphabetically from A to Z (default) or Z to A

6.—after sort, categories or articles with DS are always at the bottom

7.—case insensitive

Add Favorite Screen

8.—either type in a new category name or select from a list using thepull down menu

9.—or, instead of pull down, as new category names entered, it showbelow for selection on a scrollable page

Rate Screen

10.—it is used either for CATEGORY, ARTICLE, or USERID

11.—depending on the button clicked like RATE CAT, RATE ART, RATE USER,all the data and labels are displayed accordingly

12.—rating buttons all unhighlighted at the beginning and when clickedit is highlighted. only one can be selectable

13.—userid doing the review is entered automatically

14.—user selects rating, enters comments, selects if user wants to havethis info be sent as a message to his/her RATEBOX

Share Screen

15.—share screen is used for sharing this message with people outsidethe system

16.—user can share in five different ways; EMAIL, TEXT MESSAGE,FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & LINKEIN

17.—depending on the selection, a new screen will be presented which mayrequire userid and password to login

18.—LIST BUILDER is a capability for user to build lists that containEMAIL addresses, and save/delete and use them later

19.—user can instead enter one or more EMAIL addresses without enteringthem into the list builder

20.—for text messaging, one or multiple phone numbers can be entered

21.—user can enter the message in a scrollable page above the originalmessage

22.—the original message is also in a separate scrollable page

23.—when user clicks SEND, the new and original messages are sent andscreen stays so that user can share it using other methods as well

24.—all messages include standard template, providing information aboutthe application and the theme

25.—when user clicks CLOSE, screen is closed and user is taken back tothe page that they clicked the SHARE button

Reply-Post Screen

26.—user selects either REPLY or POST

27.—when REPLY is selected, SUBJECT starts with REP: and cannot bechanged.

28.—when POST is selected, user can enter a SUBJECT name

29.—user then enters the message in a scrollable page

30.—the original message is displayed on this screen as a referenceonly, which is also in a separate scrollable page, but is not posted tothe category

Forward Screen

31.—user selects either USER or CATEGORY to forward the message

32.—when USER is selected, LIST NAME can be selected for list of USERIDsor enter one or more USERIDs

33.—when CATEGORY is selected, a category name is entered or selectedfrom a category list

34.—when USER is selected and user clicks SEND, the new and originalmessages are sent to the INBOX of USERID or list of USERIDs, and screenstays so that user can forward it to other users or category as well

35.—when CATEGORY is selected and user clicks SEND, the new and originalmessages are posted to the CATEGORY and screen stays so that user canforward it to other users or category as well

Update Invitation Screen

36.—currently invited USERID, List, and EMAILS are shown

37.—using the ADD button, user can add additional USERID, List andEMAILS, or

38.—using the REMOVE button, user can remove one or more USERID, List,and EMAILS

39.—after clicking ADD or REMOVE buttons, screen stays so that user canadd or remove additional people

40.—message box shows messages after each action, like additional peopleadded or removed

Add Category Screen

41.—user must select either PRIVATE or PUBLIC

42.—LIST BUILDER is a capability for user to build lists that containUSERID or EMAIL addresses, and save/delete and use them later

43.—user can instead enter one or more USERID or EMAIL addresses withoutentering them into the list builder

44.—user selects the CATEGORY CLASS, TYPE and SCOPE from the pulldownmenu

Inbox Article Screen

45.—REPLY—sends a message back to the USERID that sent the originalmessage, user has option to include the original message

46.—FORWARD—sends a message to another USERID

Search Screen

47.—if SEARCH was clicked from MAIN page, then SEARCH CAT isautomatically displayed in pulldown menu in SEARCH screen. But user canchange it through pulldown menu.

48.—if SEARCH was clicked from ARTICLE page, then SEARCH ART isautomatically displayed. But user can change it through pulldown menu.

49.—user can save any search setup by typing a new search name, andre-use it by selecting it using the pulldown menu.

50.—user must select either CAT for Category, ART for Article, or USERfor User search

51.—user can search either the current page where the SEARCH button wasclicked, or all the pages in the database.

52.—user can select either CATEGORY TYPE “ALL” or only one of the Typesfrom the pulldown menu.

53. After searching for CATEGORY, result page is similar as the CATEGORYMAIN page clicking on category in this page opens up a CATEGORY LISTPAGE, and clicking on an article opens up a screen same as the CATEGORYARTICLE.

54. After searching for ARTICLE, result page is the SEARCH LIST SCREEN.Clicking on the article (SUBJECT) opens up a screen same as the CATEGORYARTICLE. Clicking on the CATEGORY opens up the category screen using theCATEGORY MAIN page.

55. After searching for USER, clicking on the USERID opens up the PRIMESSAGE screen with the SEND PRI MESSAGE option highlighted.

Find/Message:

56.—This box is used for two purposes. Find is used to search keywordson the current page. As user types, keywords are displayed immediately.The forward and backward arrows are used to highlight the next orprevious found keyword. In addition, this box may be used to displaymessages when there is a user action. Here are some examples of Findsearches;

1. in MAIN PAGE: Category Name, highlights matching category names

2. in LIST PAGE: Subject Name, User Name, highlights matching subject oruser names

3. in ARTICLE PAGE: any keyword in an article content is highlighted

4. in INFO PAGE: any keyword in info pages content is highlighted

User Navigational Flow (on Portable or Non-Portable Electronic HardwareDevice)

1. user registers and downloads the application

2. 1st screen is displayed (Figure S1)

3. user is directed to USER RULES AND GUIDELINES page (Figure S9L) inSETTINGS (FIG. 46)

1. user must review and accept USER RULES AND GUIDELINES (Figure S9L)

1. if user does not read and accept the rules and guidelines, usercannot go further and use the application is disabled.

2. once user accepts the USER RULES AND GUIDELINES, user is directed toTUTORIAL or SETTINGS main screen

3. on SETTINGS screen user can select either USER TUTORIALS or USERSETTINGS. All other links are disabled until user fills out the requiredinformation in USER SETTINGS screen

2. user may navigate to USER TUTORIALS to learn about the application

1. user is directed to USER SETTINGS or SETTINGS main screen

3. user must set up USER SETTINGS (FIG. 48)

1. if user does not fill out the required information on this screen,user cannot to to HOME screen (HOME screen is disabled until therequired USER SETTINGS information is filled out)

2. once user fills out the required information and click on buttonSAVE, electronic hardware device initiates a communication (sync) withthe main system and provides the user information for approval. Systemverifies unique USERID and EMAIL and registers the user. If USERID orEMAIL is not unique, user is displayed a message to change them untilapproved by the system.

3. once the system approves the unique USERID and EMAIL, all links inSETTINGS screens are enabled, and user can navigate within SETTINGSscreens freely and also navigate to the HOME screen.

4. user is highly recommended to set up USAGE SETTINGS (FIG. 49)

5. user may review and set ALERTS (FIG. 23)

6. user may review status of CREDITS and how can earn more credits (FIG.16)

7. user may review SPONSOR SETTINGS and make change (FIG. 44)

8. user may review STATISTICS (FIG. 50)

9. user may review VERSION information

10. through the main SETTINGS screen (FIG. 46), user can navigate withinSETTINGS environment until they feel ready to move to the mainapplication screen by clicking on the HOME link

11. default HOME screen is CATEGORY (FIG. 22). User can change thedefault screen in USAGE SETTINGS screen to TOP USA (Figure S4B),FAVORITES (Figure S5A), PERSONAL (FIG. 42) or SEARCH (FIG. 45) screens(also referred as C, T, F, P, S and Folders).

12. on all HOME screens (C, T, F, P, S), user has the option to go backto the SETTINGS screens.

4. CATEGORY Main, system default HOME, screen (FIG. 22)

1. user can navigate to START screen (FIG. 21) by clicking on STARTarrow link or by clicking on THEME name on top of the screen.

1. On the START screen user can navigate to any of the other Themes thatuser has already registered by clicking on the Theme icon, or user canclick on any of the other Theme icons that user has not registered yet,and user is directed to the new Theme Signup screen. On the new ThemeSignup screen, user is given information about the Theme, which user cancontinue with registration, or clicks cancel to go back to the STARTscreen.

2. user may navigate to main SETTINGS screen by clicking on SETTINGSlink top right of screen

3. user may navigate to INFORMATION pages (i) by clicking on (i) link attop right of screen

4. user may navigate between following links (Folders) at the bottom ofthe screen by clicking them

1. CATEGORY screen (FIG. 22)

2. TOP USA screen (Figure S4B)

3. FAVORITE screen (Figure S5A)

4. PERSONAL screen (FIG. 42)

5. SEARCH screen (FIG. 45)

5. user may navigate to specific Category by clicking on the CATEGORY(CAT) NAME

6. user may navigate within the CATEGORY Main page by using buttons likeTOP/BOTTOM (T/B) and using the FIND button at the bottom of the screen.User can also sort columns by clicking to the headers section of thecolumn.

7. user may change the display characteristics of the screen byselecting an option from the DISPLAY pulldown menu.

8. user may navigate within the Category Main page by scrolling up anddown by using a scrolling bar or by using a hand motion in electronichardware devices that supports that capability.

5. CATEGORY Lists screen (FIG. 14)

1. user can navigate to START screen (FIG. 21) by clicking on THEME nameon top of the screen.

2. user may navigate to main SETTINGS screen by clicking on SETTINGSarrow link on top right of the screen.

3. user may navigate to INFORMATION pages (i) by clicking on (i) link attop right of screen

4. user may navigate between following links (Folders) at the bottom ofthe screen by clicking them

1. CATEGORY screen (FIG. 22)

2. TOP USA screen (Figure S4B)

3. FAVORITE screen (Figure S5A)

4. PERSONAL screen (FIG. 42)

5. SEARCH screen (FIG. 45)

5. user may navigate to specific Article by clicking on the ARTICLE(ART) NAME (FIG. 19)

6. user may navigate within the CATEGORY List page by using buttons likeTOP/BOTTOM (T/B) and using the FIND button at the bottom of the screen.User can also sort columns by clicking to the headers section of thecolumn.

7. user may navigate to USER PAGE (Figure S8D) by clicking on theUSERID, under the FROM column. Closing the USER PAGE will navigate userback to the page that they clicked on the USERID.

8. user may post a new article. Clicking on the POST NEW button willnavigate user to the REPLY/POST screen (Figure S3H). On REPLY/POSTscreen, clicking the SEND/CANCEL buttons will navigate user back to thepage that they clicked on the POST NEW button.

9. user may change the display characteristics of the screen byselecting an option from the DISPLAY pulldown menu.

10. user may Rate the Category by clicking on the RATE CAT button andthe user will be taken to the RATE Screen (FIG. 15). On RATE screen,clicking the SUBMIT/CANCEL buttons will navigate user back to the pagethat they clicked on the RATE CAT button.

11. user may Follow the Category by clicking on the FOLLOW CAT buttonand the user will be taken to the ALERT/FOLLOW SETTINGS Screen (FIG.23). On ALERT/FOLLOW SETTINGS Screen, clicking the CLOSE/CANCEL buttonswill navigate user back to the page that they clicked on the FOLLOW CATbutton.

12. user may navigate within the Category List page by scrolling up anddown by using a scrolling bar or by using a hand motion in electronichardware devices that supports that capability.

6. CATEGORY Article Screen (FIG. 19)

1. user can navigate to START screen (FIG. 21) by clicking on THEME nameon top of the screen.

2. user may navigate to SHARE screen (FIG. 20) by clicking on SHAREarrow link on top right of the screen. On SHARE screen, clicking theCLOSE/CANCEL buttons will navigate user back to the page that theyclicked on the SHARE button.

3. user may navigate to INFORMATION pages (i) by clicking on (i) link attop right of screen

4. user may navigate between following links (Folders) at the bottom ofthe screen by clicking them

1. CATEGORY screen (FIG. 22)

2. TOP USA screen (Figure S4B)

3. FAVORITE screen (Figure S5A)

4. PERSONAL screen (FIG. 42)

5. SEARCH screen (FIG. 45)

5. user may navigate back to CATEGORY List screen (FIG. 14) by clickingCATEGORY LIST arrow link on top left.

6. user may navigate to USER PAGE (Figure S8D) by clicking on theUSERID, under the FROM column. Closing the USER PAGE will navigate userback to the page that they clicked on the USERID.

7. user may reply to or post a new article. Clicking on the REPLY/POSTbutton will navigate user to the REPLY/POST screen (Figure S3H). OnREPLY/POST screen, clicking the SEND/CANCEL buttons will navigate userback to the page that they clicked on the REPLY/POST button.

1. if user is a sponsor, user also has the option of posting one sponsormessage in their category, but no limit on messages as a user. Sponsorswill have an option to indicated if the message that they are posting istheir sponsor message or a message as a general user (see Figure S3H2).Once sponsor use their sponsor message, then the sponsor messageselection is disabled until the next calendar day.

8. user may forward article to other users or post it to anothercategory. Clicking on the FORWARD/POST button will navigate user to theFORWARD screen (Figure S31). On FORWARD/POST screen, clicking theSEND/CANCEL buttons will navigate user back to the page that theyclicked on the FORWARD/POST button.

9. user may change the display characteristics of the screen byselecting an option from the DISPLAY pulldown menu.

10. user may Rate the Article by clicking on the RATE ART button and theuser will be taken to the RATE Screen (FIG. 15). On RATE screen,clicking the SUBMIT/CANCEL buttons will navigate user back to the pagethat they clicked on the RATE CAT button.

11. user may Rate the User by clicking on the RATE USER button and theuser will be taken to the RATE Screen (FIG. 15). On RATE screen,clicking the SUBMIT/CANCEL buttons will navigate user back to the pagethat they clicked on the RATE USER button.

12. user may Follow the User by clicking on the FOLLOW USER button andthe user will be taken to the ALERT/FOLLOW SETTINGS Screen (FIG. 23). OnALERT/FOLLOW SETTINGS Screen, clicking the CLOSE/CANCEL buttons willnavigate user back to the page that they clicked on the FOLLOW USERbutton.

13. user may navigate within the Category Article page by scrolling upand down by using a scrolling bar or by using a hand motion inelectronic hardware devices that supports that capability.

14. user may navigate to other articles by using the NEXT and PREVIOUSlink arrows, still using the CATEGORY Article Screen.

15. user may navigate to the FULL PAGE (Figure S3K) view of the articleby clicking on the FULL PAGE button, which enlarges the view of thearticle page. Navigation to Category List screen and SHARE screen, aswell as the RATE ART buttons are eliminated to make room for largerarticle display area. Clicking the BACK TO FIT PAGE will take user tothe original article display mode.

16. after reviewing the article user may go back to the CATEGORY Listscreen, CATEGORY Main screen, or go to other Folders like TOP USA,FAVORITE, PERSONAL or SEARCH.

7. TOP USA List Screen (Figure S4B) use the similar navigation as theCATEGORY List screen.

8. TOP USA Article Screen (Figure S4C) use the similar navigation as theCATEGORY Article screen

9. FAVORITE Main Screen (Figure S5A) use the similar navigation as theCATEGORY Main screen

10. FAVORITE List Screen (Figure S5B) use the similar navigation as theCATEGORY List screen

11. FAVORITE Article Screen (Figure S4C) use the similar navigation asthe CATEGORY Article screen

12. PERSONAL Main Screen (FIG. 42)

1. user can navigate to START screen (FIG. 21) by clicking on THEME nameon top of the screen.

2. user may navigate to main SETTINGS screen by clicking on SETTINGSlink top right of screen

3. user may navigate to INFORMATION pages (i) by clicking on (i) link attop right of screen

4. user may navigate between following links (Folders) at the bottom ofthe screen by clicking them

1. CATEGORY screen (FIG. 22)

2. TOP USA screen (Figure S4B)

3. FAVORITE screen (Figure S5A)

4. PERSONAL screen (FIG. 42)

5. SEARCH screen (FIG. 45)

5. user may navigate to specific Category like INBOX, OUTBOX, SENTBOX,etc. by clicking on the CATEGORY (CAT) NAME

6. user may navigate within the CATEGORY Main page by using buttons likeTOP/BOTTOM (T/B) and using the FIND button at the bottom of the screen.User can also sort columns by clicking to the headers section of thecolumn.

7. user may change the display characteristics of the screen byselecting an option from the DISPLAY pulldown menu.

8. user may navigate within the Category Main page by scrolling up anddown by using a scrolling bar or by using a hand motion in electronichardware devices that supports that capability.

9. user may add a new CATEGORY by clicking on the ADD NEW CATEGORYbutton at the bottom, which will navigate user to the ADD CATEGORYScreen (FIG. 13). On ADD CATEGORY screen, clicking the DONE/CANCELbuttons will navigate user back to the page that they clicked on the ADDNEW CATEGORY button.

1. if user is SPONSOR, user will be navigated to the ADD CATEGORY SCREENSPONSORS (FIG. 43), when user clicks on DONE button on ADD NEW CATEGORYscreen.

2. on ADD CATEGORY SCREEN SPONSORS, clicking on DONE/CANCEL buttons willnavigate user back to the page that they clicked on the ADD NEW CATEGORYbutton.

10. user may delete a category that he created by clicking on the DELETECATEGORY button at bottom. Navigation will stay on the same screen.

11. user may change the display of categories by clicking on the buttonsMY CATS, INVITED CATS or ALL CATS. Only those categories that correspondto the button clicked are displayed. Navigation will stay on the samescreen.

12. user may update the invited list of people on his privatecategories, like adding more or deleting others from the list. Clickingon the UPDATE MY INVITATIONS will navigate user to the UPDATEINVITATIONS screen (FIG. 12). On UPDATE INVITATIONS screen, clicking theSAVE/CANCEL buttons will navigate user back to the page that theyclicked on the UPDATE MY INVITATIONS button.

1. PERSONAL INBOX List Screen (Figure S7A): user may navigate to INBOXcategory by clicking on the INBOX under the CAT NAME column. On INBOXscreen, user can navigate back to the PERSONAL Main screen by eitherclicking on the PERSONAL CATEGORIES link arrow on top left or byclicking on the PERSONAL Folder button at the bottom.

1. SEND PRI MESSAGE screen (Figure S7C). On PERSONAL INBOX screen, usermay send a private message to other user by clicking on the SEND PRIMESSAGE button. On SEND PRI MESSAGE screen, clicking the CLOSE/CANCELbuttons will navigate user back to the page that they clicked on theSEND PRI MESSAGE button.

1. if user is a SPONSOR, then user is enabled to select a user listnamed SPONSORLIST_CATID (which contains list of user who have agreed toreceive private message from sponsors, and users who did not block thesponsor by selecting DS for that particular sponsor). Once the privatemessage using SPONSORLIST_CATID is used by the sponsor, the selection isdisabled until next calendar day.

2. User may navigate to a specific article in INBOX List screen byclicking on the ARTICLE (ART) NAME. On INBOX Article screen, clicking onthe INBOX LIST link arrow on top left will navigate user back to theINBOX List screen.

2. PERSONAL INBOX Article Screen (Figure S7B): use the similarnavigation as the CATEGORY Article screen, except there is no rating ofarticle for private INBOX Articles. On INBOX Article screen, clicking onthe INBOX LIST link arrow on top left ill navigate user back to theINBOX List screen.

3. PERSONAL INBOX REPLY Screen (Figure S7G): user may reply to privatemessages in their INBOX. On PERSONAL INBOX REPLY screen, clicking theSEND/CANCEL buttons will navigate user back to the PERSONAL INBOXArticle screen.

4. PERSONAL INBOX FORWARD Screen (Figure S7H): user may forward aprivate message in their INBOX to others. On PERSONAL INBOX FORWARDscreen, clicking the SEND/CANCEL buttons will navigate user back to thePERSONAL INBOX Article screen.

5. PERSONAL NOTEBOX List Screen (Figure S7E): use the similar navigationas the CATEGORY List screen, except there is no rate/follow of categoryfor private NOTEBOX. On NOTEBOX List screen, clicking on the PERSONALCATEGORIES link arrow on top left ill navigate user back to the INBOXList screen.

6. PERSONAL NOTEBOX Article Screen (Figure S7F): use the similarnavigation as the CATEGORY Article screen, except there is no rating ofarticles for private NOTEBOX. On NOTEBOX Article screen, clicking on theNOTEBOX LIST link arrow on top left ill navigate user back to theNOTEBOX List screen.

7. PERSONAL SENTBOX List Screen (Figure S71): use the similar navigationas the CATEGORY List screen, except there is no rate/follow of categoryfor private SENTBOX. On SENTBOX List screen, clicking on the PERSONALCATEGORIES link arrow on top left ill navigate user back to the INBOXList screen.

8. PERSONAL SENTBOX Article Screen (Figure S7J): use the similarnavigation as the CATEGORY Article screen, except there is no rating ofarticles for private SENTBOX. On SENTBOX Article screen, clicking on theSENTBOX LIST link arrow on top left ill navigate user back to theSENTBOX List screen.

13. SEARCH Main Screen (FIG. 45)

1. user can navigate to START screen (FIG. 21) by clicking on STARTarrow link or by clicking on THEME name on top of the screen.

2. user may navigate to main SETTINGS screen by clicking on SETTINGSlink top right of screen

3. user may navigate to INFORMATION pages (i) by clicking on (i) link attop right of screen

4. user may navigate to HOME page (default) by clicking on HOME linkarrow at top left of screen

5. user may navigate between following links (Folders) at the bottom ofthe screen by clicking them

1. CATEGORY screen (FIG. 22)

2. TOP USA screen (Figure S4B)

3. FAVORITE screen (Figure S5A)

4. PERSONAL screen (FIG. 42)

5. SEARCH screen (FIG. 45)

6. Clicking on the CANCEL button on SEARCH Main screen will navigateuser back to the page that they clicked on the SEARCH folder.

7. user may perform a search on Categories, Articles, Users andSponsors;

1. CATEGORY SEARCH RESULTS: use the same screen and navigation as theCATEGORY Main screen (FIG. 22)

2. ARTICLE SEARCH RESULTS (Figure S8B): use the similar navigation asthe CATEGORY List screen, except there is no rate/follow of category. OnARTICLES SEARCH RESULTS screen, clicking on the MODIFY SEARCH link arrowon top left ill navigate user back to the SEARCH Main screen.

3. USER SEARCH RESULTS (Figure S8C): use the similar navigation as theCATEGORY List screen, except there is no rate/follow of category. OnUSER SEARCH RESULTS screen, clicking on the MODIFY SEARCH link arrow ontop left ill navigate user back to the SEARCH Main screen.

4. SPONSOR SEARCH RESULTS (Figure S8E): use the similar navigation asthe CATEGORY List screen, except there is no rate/follow of category. OnSPONSOR SEARCH RESULTS screen, clicking on the MODIFY SEARCH link arrowon top left ill navigate user back to the SEARCH Main screen.

14. SETTINGS

1. after the first time forced navigation to the SETTINGS screens, userhas the full flexibility to navigate throughout the SETTINGS screens tochange the setup.

2. user may navigate to USER RULES AND GUIDELINES screen, however user'sacceptance of the rules and guidelines cannot be changed anymore.

3. user may navigate to USER SETTINGS screen, however user's USERID,EMAIL, and FIRST and LAST NAME cannot be changed anymore.

TABLE 1 Sample list of Information to be tracked. INFORMATION THAT WILLBE TRACKED IN ANY ELECTRONIC HARDWARE DEVICE (LIKE IPHONE) INCLUDE:  1.Track all statistics for each Article  1. Article ID number  2. Themeand Category that article belong to  3. which userid posted the article(author)  4. Date and time of posting  5. article status: N, NR, R, F,DS  6. number of times an article was read  7. number of times anarticle was read by a unique userid  8. number of times an article wasshared through email, messaging, f, t, or l  9. number of users havethis article in Favorite folder 10. number of users have this article inDS status 11. number of users have replied to or forwarded this articles12. number of times posted to facebook 13. number of times posted totwitter 14. rank of the article 15. rating of the article and usercomments 16. length of the article in terms of number of characters andnumber of words  2. Track all statistics for each User  1. number ofTheme subscription, and their names  2. number of times articles postedor replied and to which category  3. number of times articles sharedthrough email, messaging, f, t, or l  4. number of times articlesforwarded to a user or another category  5. Top five PUB categoriesparticipated by the user  6. Top five NP categories participated by theuser  7. number of referrals and the referral's contact info  8. numberof times told friends and the friends contact info  9. number of userssubscribed who were referred or told by the user and their userid 10.number of facebook postings 11. number of twitter postings 12. number ofsuggestions 13. number of problem reporting 14. rating of user and usercomments 15. track all postings, replies, and forwards and be able tostore at SENTBOX 16. top five categories participated NP or PUB 17.number of followers 18. number of blocks on this user 19. number ofinvitations received 20. total use time for application sofware, folderslike Categories, Top USA, Favorites, Personal and Search, and use ofindividual categories (continuos for 365 days, from start of the apps toclose) 21. Total time use of C T F P S folders 22. Total time use of aCategory for NP PUB PRI  3. Track all Credits for each user  1. creditearned by subscribing to each Theme  2. credit earned for each Referral 3. credit earned for each Telling  4. credit earned for each Invited(non-subscriber)  5. credit earned for each Sharing  6. credit earnedfor each Subscribed User that you have Referred, Told, Invited or Shared 7. credit earned for each Rating  8. credit earned for each Suggestions 9. credit earned for each problem Reporting 10. credit earned for eachcreation of a Category PUB or PRI 11. credit earned for eachPostings/Replies/Forwards for PUB/NP (Non-Private) Categories 12. creditearned for each Person invited to PRI Category 13. credit earned forreading sponsored Ad in a Category 14. credit earned for accepting toreceive Ads in INBOX from sponsors  4. Track all statistics for eachcategory (in general, any statistics for articles in a given categorycan be combined to get a total statistical number for a category)  1.number of categories created, PRI and PUB, their name  2. Author of thecategory and date/time it was created  3. number of posted articles  4.number of read articles  5. number of replies and forwards for eacharticle  6. number of unique users participating  7. number of averagedaily postings/replies  8. number of users have this category in theirFavorites  9. number of users following this category 10. number of DS11. Category Rating and user comments 12. Category Ranking—based on thesum of the ranking of each article in that category 13. Number of PUB(including MPUB), NP, PRI (including MPRI) 14. number of each CategoryTYPE 15. number of each Category SCOPE INFORMATION THAT WILL BE UPLOADEDFROM ANY ELECTRONIC HARDWARE DEVICE (LIKE IPHONE) TO MAIN DATABASEINCLUDE:  5. Related to each Article  1. New Articles posted/replied—IDnumbers (ID also includes Theme and Category numbers)  1. userid postedthe article (author)  2. Date and time of posting  3. length of the newarticle in terms of number of characters and number of words  2. numberof times an article was read in any category (do not count articles readif user is the author)  3. number of times an article was shared throughemail, messaging, f, t, or l  4. articles in Favorite folder  5.articles in DS status  6. articles forwarded  7. articles rated and usercomments  6. Related to each User  1. new Theme subscription, and theirnames, date, etc  2. articles posted or replied and to which category,date, etc.  3. articles shared through email, messaging, f, t, or l,dates, etc.  4. articles replied or forwarded to a user or anothercategory, dates, etc.  5. categories participated by reading, posting,replying, or forwarding  1. for each category, we track four items;articles read, posted, replied, forwarded by each user  6. Top five PUBcategories participated by the user  7. Top five NP categoriesparticipated by the user  8. referrals—referrals contact info, dates,etc.  9. told friends—friends contact info, dates, etc. 10. sharingthrough emails, facebook, twitter, etc., article name, dates, etc. 11.suggestions—content, dates, etc. 12. problem reporting—content,dates,.etc. 13. rating of other user/article/category, comments, date,etc. 14. categories and users followed names, dates, etc. 15. blocksrequested—userid, dates, etc. 16. invitations sent—userid, dates, etc.17. total use time for apps date, time (continuos for 365 days, fromstart of the apps to close) 18. Total time use of folders C T F P Sdate, time 19. Total time use of a Categories ID, date, time, etc. 20.saved SEARCH setups 21. saved LIST NAMEs 22. saved FAVORITE names 23.saved SETTINGS folder  7. Related to each category (category, rating,PUB/PRI, TYPE, SCOPE, userid, date/time, etc.)  1. new category created 2. Favorites categories  3. Following categories  4. DS categories  5.Categories rated and user comments  8. Related to Credits  1. creditearned for each Referral  2. credit earned for each Telling  3. creditearned for each Invited (non-subscriber)  4. credit earned for eachSharing  5. credit earned for each Subscribed User that you haveReferred, Told, Invited or Shared  6. credit earned for each Rating  7.credit earned for each Suggestions  8. credit earned for each problemReporting  9. credit earned for each creation of a Category PUB or PRI10. credit earned for each Postings/Replies/Forwards for PUB/NP(Non-Private) Categories 11. credit earned for each Person invited toPRI Category 12. credit earned for reading sponsored Ad in a Category13. credit earned for accepting to receive Ads in INBOX from sponsorsINFORMATION THAT WILL BE DOWNLOADED TO ANY ELECTRONIC HARDWARE DEVICE(LIKE IPHONE) FROM MAIN DATABASE INCLUDE:  9. for each Article (theme,category, userid, date/time, etc.)  1. new articles—userid posted thearticle (author), Date and time of posting  2. ranking of the article 3. rating of the article and user comments  4. length of the article interms of number of characters and number of words 10. for each User  1.new categories created, PRI and PUB  2. new articles posted, replied,forwarded  3. rating of users and user comments  4. ranking of users  5.number of followers  6. blocked messages  7. invitations received  8.personal messages  9. total use time for apps, folders, and categories(continuos for 365 days, from start of the apps to close) 10. Total timeuse of C T F P S, folders 11. Total time use of a Category for NP PUBPRI 11. credits  1. credit earned by subscribing to each Theme  2.credit earned for each Referral  3. credit earned for each Telling  4.credit earned for each Invited (non-subscriber)  5. credit earned foreach Sharing  6. credit earned for each Subscribed User that you haveReferred, Told, Invited or Shared  7. credit earned for each Rating  8.credit earned for each Suggestions  9. credit earned for each problemReporting 10. credit earned for each creation of a Category PUB or PRI11. credit earned for each Postings/Replies/Forwards for PUB/NP(Non-Private) Categories 12. credit earned for each Person invited toPRI Category 13. credit earned for reading sponsored Ad in a Category14. credit earned for accepting to receive Ads in INBOX from sponsors12. for each category  1. new categories and date/time it was created,type, scope, etc.  2. number of posted articles  3. number of readarticles  4. number of replies and forwards  5. number of unique usersparticipating  6. number of average daily postings/replies  7. number ofusers have this category in their Favorites  8. number of usersfollowing this category  9. number of DS 10. Rating and user comments11. Ranking—based on the sum of the ranking of each article in thatcategory 13. for each theme  1. fee for the theme  2. credits requiredto subscribe  3. # of users/participants  4. # of categories  5. # ofarticles  6. # of new articles

TABLE 2 Example list of possible themes. THEMES: PEOPLE NEWS POLITICALENTERTAINMENT- MOVIES, THEATER, CONCERTS TECHNOLOGY HEALTH TRAVEL MONEYSPORTS LEGAL REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS BUSINESS CAREER MUSIC MOVIES IMAGESPICTURES VIDEO HISTORY GEOGRAPHY FASHION FAMILY EDUCATION RELIGION FOODDRINKS JOKES QUOTES IDIOMS EXPERTS EMAIL TEXT MESSAGE AUDIO MESSAGEVIDEO MESSAGE FILES LINKS (URL) TWITTER FACEBOOK MYSPACE FLICKR . . .

TABLE 3 Features, Advantages, and Benefits SUMMARY OF FEATURES,ADVANTAGES, AND BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM AND METHOS  1. system tocommunicate and share ideas, opinions, etc. in a single userinterface/environment  2. system to simplify communication amongfriends, family, and around the world  3. system to simplify themanagement of information and data, saving time and make people moreefficient  4. system that connects friends, families, and people allaround the world that share common interest and goals and want tocommunicate instantaneously  5. system to enable communication fromone-to-one and one-to-many  6. system to enable communication in asecure and public or private settings  7. system to track and giveincentives/credits  8. system to earn credits and use it towardsubscribing to more Themes  9. system to follow(read/post/reply/participate) many themes, categories in a single userinterface/environment 10. system to create categories, public or privateand invite only those selected by the user 11. system to allow user toinvite anyone to join a category 12. system to allow user to un-inviteanyone to a category 13. system to send private message to anyone or toany group you create in the system 14. system to block any user sendingany message to another user 15. system to allow a secure environmentwhere only those selected to communicate and share. No one else can reador post 16. system to organize all data into Themes, Categories, andArticles for easy access to any data 17. system to organize navigationto Categories, Top Articles, Favorites, Personal and Search for easyaccess to any data 18. system to allow interface to blogs, twitter,facebook, linkedin, and other social networks 19. system to allowsetting alerts to follow certain categories and users 20. system toallow easy navigation to previous page, next page, top or bottom 21.system to store and recover information for a subscriber like, Themesubscriptions, all Settings for each Theme, Favorites for each Theme,Personal Folder in for each Theme, all DS selections for Categories andArticles, statistics 22. system to allow extraction of any data storedin the database at a later time 23. system to calculate rankings ofarticles and categories based on user behaviors 24. system to enableratings of articles, categories and users by other users 25. system toenable search of any data exist in the database 26. system to enablesponsors to sponsor themes and categories 27. system to enable sponsorsto give credits to users as incentives for users to participate inactivities 28. system to search articles, categories, users, sponsors29. system that enables people to access to real time information anddata 30. a system based on a subscription and registered user communityof user 31. you do not have to go to different web sites to access toblogs 32. you do not have to use different applications to access tosocial networks 33. you do not have the difficulties of managing email,like  1. too much email, junk emails, lost emails, lack of a goodconfirmation of receipt, anyone can send you an unwanted email 34. easyaccess and management of information and data  1. access to blogs,social networks to share info, ideas, discussions, etc. 35. anyone canstart a topic/category/discussion and share with others 36. system toencourage people to participate through credits/bonuses 37. system toenable users to provide feedback/rate articles/discussions/topics/categories/users/sponsors 38. system to enable sponsors targetusers based on their interest and demographics 39. Ability to followdifferent subjects and people 40. Ability to communicate and participatein blog like manner in discussion, where content is shared with othersin a central location 41. Ability to share with others using email,where content can be distributed to anyone in the network 42. facebook,twitter, instant message, etc. 43. Ability to send instant text message,where it can be directed to any one instantly 44. Ability to communicateand share data/info privately in a secure environment 45. Integrated andcomprehensive communication environment (like a browser) with extensivecapabilities for categorizing, organizing, accessing, searching andsharing info with others. 46. ability to support smart phones 47. easyaccess to management of info and messages 48. system to encourageparticipation through reward/credit system 49. system to enable peopleprovide comment, feedback, review, rate categories, articles, users,etc. 50. system to encourage anyone to start topics, discussions,communications with others easily and instantly 51. It is a nonintrusive way to communicate company info/news to all employees in atimely manner from HR, sales, engineering, etc. 52. Users can easilymonitor new messages/information about any topic in the company. 53. Itis based on participation and subscription 54. Easy way to solicitfeedback and participation 55. A unified communication tool to interfacewith all employees with the company 56. Integrated communicationenvironment. Still integrated to web site through links 57. fast, easy,secure, private communication environment to create and share info anddata 58. fast, easy environment to read, write opinion or comment,search, organize, find, learn, ask questions, and communicate 59. singleinterface to reach blogs and social networks 60. system that promotescontent creation, participation, sharing, self management, etc. 61.system that allows creation and participation in broad as well as veryspecific topics and interest points 62. system that allows communicationand creation of topics that are geographically focused, like city,state, country and International 63. system that enables access tocommunity created content as well as content created outside thecommunity 64. system that brings community of users in different topicsinto a single location with a single interface 65. system thatsimplifies communication and management of information and saves timeand makes people more efficient 66. system that connects, friends,families and people all around the world that share common interest,goals, etc. and want to communicate one-to-one or one-to-many, in asecure and public or private settings 67. communication management  1.communication environment with one or many people  2. private and securecommunication environment  3. send message to one place/person, insteadof multiple  4. access/receive multiple messages from oneplace/location, instead of multiple 68. Communication system that can besetup for only internal use and  1. minimizes distractions because emailinbox is full of junk and unwanted email  2. no more missed/lost emails 3. no more junk email  4. no outside the company email  5. reduces thenumber of emails to be read  1. if there are 10 people in the team, andeveryone copying everyone else, then everyone gets 10 emails, total of100 emails in the system. Instead everyone goes to one location whereall the 10 messages are captured and everyone see the same messages. 69.Secure and private communication  1. messages from only those designated 2. no one else can access 70. Reliable communication  1. you do notmiss messages  2. no need for confirmation 71. Fast, easy, and efficientway to access to live information and data  1. simple and efficientnavigation  2. extensive sorting, searching, and find capabilities 72.Save time communicating with others  1. communicate using  1. Public orPrivate categories  2. Private messages  3. email, text message, andposting to social networks 73. save time organizing all communications 1. organize data in Favorite and Personal folders

TABLE 4 Definitions DEFINITIONS  1. APPS is an application software thatruns on electronic hardware device.  2. THEME is high level topic likePEOPLE, NEWS, TRAVEL, etc. See Table 2. for more examples of themes.  3.ARTICLE is content like messages, data, information, knowledge.  4. Anarticle considered READ (R) if article was open equal or greater thenthe the number of words in the article divided by six. For example, ifarticle has 60 words, article must be kept open minimum 10 seconds toqualify to be marked as READ.  5. SCREEN is what you see on screen  6.PAGE is where the data is displayed that is scrollable  7. FOLDER isused for Category, Top USA, Favorites, Personal and Search buttons atthe bottom of the screens  8. AUTHOR is a user who has created thecontent, article, category  9. USERID is unique identification code forregistered users 10. An Article or Category changes from NEW to NR whenexiting the Application, and if the Category or Article List was open atleast 10 sec. 11. PARTICIPANT is a user posted or replied in a category12. The MOST ACTIVE category for a user means the category where userhas posted and replied the most among the categories that the user isparticipating. 13. READER is a user that read at least one article in acategory 14. FOLLOWER is a user that set alert for a category or user15. PRI means private 16. PUB means public 17. PUBLIC means anyone cansee and participate, 18. PRIVATE means only those who have been invitedwill be able to see and participate. 19. CAT means category 20. ARTmeans article 21. DATA—Raw, unsummarized and unanalyzed facts. Data isof very little use to decision makers as it contains far too muchdetail. Before it can be used it must be converted in to information.22. INFORMATION—Data that has been processed in to a meaningful form.23. KNOWLEDGE—The capacity to use information-requires education andexperience 24. REGISTERED USER is same as subscribed user. A uniqueUSERID and unique eMAIL address are used to identify all theregistered/subscribed users. 25. CLICKING means selecting a button orlink 26. LINK also means BUTTON or ARROW. 27. FOLDERS means CATEGORY,TOP USA, FAVORITE, PERSONAL, SEARCH links at the bottom of most screens.28. USER means CLIENT

1. A system comprising: a one-way trust lists datastore including afirst one-way trust list of a first member and a second one-way trustlist of a second member; a master reciprocated trust folders datastore;a reciprocated trust management engine coupled to the one-way trustlists datastore and the master reciprocated trust folders datastore;wherein, in operation, the reciprocated trust management engine: matchesa first entry in the first one-way trust list with the second member;matches a second entry in the second one-way trust list with the firstmember; creates a reciprocated trust folder for a group of membersincluding the first member and the second member; maintains thereciprocated trust folder in the master reciprocated trust foldersdatastore.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a contactinformation input engine; a one-way trust list creation engine coupledto the contact information input engine and the one-way trust listsdatastore; wherein, in operation: the contact information input enginereceives contact information associated with the first member; theone-way trust list creation engine creates the first one-way trust listfor the first member including at least some of the contact information,wherein the at least some of the contact information includes datasufficient for the reciprocated trust management engine to match thefirst entry in the first one-way trust list with the second member. 3.The system of claim 1, wherein the first member and the second memberare members of a first subnetwork, further comprising: a social networkaggregation engine configured to aggregate the first subnetwork and asecond subnetwork including a third member into a trusted social networkincluding the first member, the second member, and a third member,wherein the first member and the second member are members of the firstsubnetwork and the third member is a member of the second subnetworkafter aggregation.
 4. The system of claim 1, further comprising: amembers datastore; a trusted party identification engine coupled to themembers datastore; a reciprocal trust confirmation engine coupled to thetrusted party identification engine; wherein; in operation: the trustedparty identification engine determines in association with the firstentry in the first one-way trust list whether the second memberinitially has an associated entry in the members datastore; thereciprocal trust confirmation engine sends a confirmation to the secondmember to confirm that the second member trusts the first member, andreceives second member one-way trust list data sufficient to enable thereciprocated trust management engine to match the second entry in thesecond one-way trust list with the first member.
 5. The system of claim4, further comprising: a social network invitation engine coupled to thetrusted party identification engine; a member registration enginecoupled to the social network invitation engine; wherein, in operation:when the second member does not initially have an associated entry inthe members datastore the social network invitation engine sends aninvitation to the second member and receives an acceptance of theinvitation; the member registration engine stores an associated entry inthe members datastore for the second member.
 6. The system of claim 1,further comprising: an administrative engine, wherein, in operation, theadministrative engine identifies a source as constructively trusted bythe first member.
 7. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a trustfolder creation engine; a trusted source identification engine; acontent management engine; a trusted destination identification engine;a trust folders datastore coupled to the trust folder creation engine,the trusted source identification engine, the content management engine,and the trusted destination identification engine; wherein, inoperation: the trust folder creation engine creates a first member trustfolder for a content source identifiable as trusted from the firstone-way trust list; the trusted source identification engine determineswhether received content is from the content source the contentmanagement engine puts the received content in the first member trustfolder when the received content is from the content source; the trusteddestination identification engine determines whether outgoing contentfrom the first member is to the content source; the content managementengine puts the outgoing content in the first member trust folder whenthe outgoing content is to the content source.
 8. The system of claim 7,wherein when the reciprocated trust management engine creates thereciprocated trust folder for the group of members, the reciprocatedtrust management engine converts the first member trust folder into thereciprocated trust folder.
 9. The system of claim 1, further comprising:a content management engine configured to store a message directed tothe group of members in the reciprocated trust folder; an access controlengine configured to limit access to the message to members of the groupof members.
 10. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a contentmanagement engine configured to enable one-to-many communication fromthe first member to other members of the group of members by putting amessage in the reciprocated trust folder; an access control engineconfigured to limit access to the message in accordance withtime-constrained or file characteristic-constrained access controlsettings.
 11. The system of claim 1, further comprising: an accesscontrol engine configurable to control group member dissemination ofcontent from a trust folder.
 12. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising: a content management engine configurable to enable a contentblocking rule sliding scale ranging from blocking no content sources ata first end point of the sliding scale to blocking all content sourcesthat are not identifiable from the first one-way trust list at a secondend point of the sliding scale.
 13. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising: a content management engine configured to enable one-to-manycommunication from the first member to other members of the group ofmembers by putting a message in the reciprocated trust folder; an accesscertification engine configured to indicate that a member of the groupof members has received the message in the reciprocated trust folder.14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a content managementengine, wherein, in operation, the content management engine: putscontent directed to the group of members in the reciprocated trustfolder; forwards content directed to the group of members todestinations that the content management engine cannot identify ascorresponding to members of the group of members; puts replies toforwarded messages in the reciprocated trust folder.
 15. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising: a member certification engine configured toestablish a global trust level for the first member based upon thequality of data provided by the first member; a member monitoring engineconfigured to obtain data regarding activity of the first member; aranking engine configured to adjust the global trust level of the firstmember based upon the activity of the first member; a rating engineconfigured to adjust the global trust level of the first member basedupon input from a third member; a global trust level indication engineconfigured to provide an indication of the global trust level for thefirst member to assist a fourth member in a determining whether to trustthe first member.
 16. The system of claim 1, further comprising: anaccess certification engine configured to check credentials of the firstmember to access certified content in the reciprocated trust folder; anaccess control engine configured to grant the first member access to thecertified content only after the access certification engine checks thecredentials of the first member.
 17. The system of claim 1, wherein thereciprocated trust folder includes temporary data and historical data.18. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a server-clientsynchronization engine configured to synchronize a client with a serverincluding the reciprocated trust management engine.
 19. A systemcomprising: a means for matching a first entry in a first one-way trustlist with a second member; a means for matching a second entry in asecond one-way trust list with a first member; a means for creating areciprocated trust folder for a group of members including the firstmember and the second member; a means for maintaining the reciprocatedtrust folder in a master reciprocated trust folders datastore.
 20. Amethod comprising: matching a first entry in a first one-way trust listwith a second member; matching a second entry in a second one-way trustlist with a first member; creating a reciprocated trust folder for agroup of members including the first member and the second member;maintaining the reciprocated trust folder in a master reciprocated trustfolders datastore.
 21. A method, comprising: accessing one or moretransferable files in a file datastore accessible to electronicmessaging users in a trust list of electronic messaging users authorizedto access the one or more transferable files; facilitating transmissionof an electronic message containing a link to the one or moretransferable files to each electronics messaging user in the trust listof electronic messaging users; receiving a request from one of theelectronic messaging users in the trust list of electronic messagingusers to access the one or more transferable files based on selection ofthe link in the electronic message; facilitating transmission, based onthe request, of the one or more transferable files from the filedatastore to the one electronic messaging user based on the request. 22.The method of claim 21, wherein the one or more transferable filescomprises a plurality of transferable files.
 23. A method, comprising:creating a trust folder for a group of members of a trusted socialnetwork, the group of members comprising a first member and a secondmember; creating a trust relationship between the first member and thesecond member; storing a first set of messages comprising one or moreelectronic messages from the first member to the second member in thetrust folder; storing a second set of messages comprising one or moreelectronic messages from the second member to the first member in thetrust folder; creating a sender-recipient category that categorizes thefirst set of messages and the second set of messages according to thetrust relationship; facilitating display of the first set of messagesand the second set of messages according to the sender-recipientcategory.